Last Rights

The Canadian industrial noise band outdoes itself on this collection of thunderous beats overlaid with nightmarish snatches of conversation, dramatically gloomy synthesizers, and disorienting blasts of noise. Either one of the band's most successful efforts or a recipe for migraine-inducing aural torture, it represented the logical culmination of several years of musical experimentation. However, it was unfortunately the last album Skinny Puppy released before the death of one of its most important members, Dwayne Goettel, from a heroin overdose in 1995. Goettel's remarkable gift for electronic manipulation is apparent on tracks like the album's opening salvo "Love in Vein" and the shattering "Download," which both make the epic yet doom-laden "Killing Game" seem like easy listening, while "Inquisition" and "Mirror Saw," both displaying the band's arguably more commercial side, are fine examples of industrial disco.