Currently enjoying “Remix Dystemper” by Skinny Puppy

In 1998, when Remix Dystemper first hit the shelves, Skinny Puppy had broken up following years of acrimony and the death of keyboardist Dwayne Goettel. Although they would reform a few years later as a duo, the remix album, featuring tracks drawn from over a decade of material, was very much a retrospective at the time of its release. Today, it feels like a look back at the first and arguably best chapter of the group’s history.

Equal parts remix album and tribute album, the disc features reworkings of notable tracks by artists who were influenced by the group – and the eclectic range of remixers suggests that the group’s influence was a lot broader than you might expect from a Canadian industrial band.

Many of the remixes are updated and more accessible versions of older, heavier singles; the God Lives Underwater version of “Testure” and the Günter Schulz mix of “Addiction” come to mind. Others, like the Ken “Hiwatt” Marshall remix of “Rodent” or the Adrian Sherwood mix of “Tin Omen,” top the source material in many ways.

There are even some heavy departures: Chris Vrenna offers a remarkably subdued mix of “Assimilate,” and Josh Wink closes the album out with an extended techno version of “Chainsaw” that works surprisingly well.

They’re not all gems, of course. Guru contributes a hip hop take on “Censor” that feels misplaced at best. The Autechre remix of “The Killing Game” is so far removed from the original – and from any sort of musical structure – that calling it a “remix” is a stretch. And I do think the remixes of “Smothered Hope” and “Dig It” are two of the best tracks that future member Mark Walk has ever done, but that’s mainly because I kind of hate the rest of his work.

Back when it was released, Remix Dystemper was a great contemporary take on a lengthy body of work, and a great bridge between new audiences and the band’s back catalog. The extent to which that’s true today is probably the same extent to which kids these days are still listening to Deftones, but it’s a mighty fine record all the same.

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