Devils In My Details by ohGr
|
Release date : November 2008
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
Background information
Review
Background information
In early September 2008, Ogre confirmed that the title of the third studio album from ohGr, the project of both Skinny Puppy frontman Kevin “Nivek Ogre” Ogilvie and Mark Walk, would be Devils In My Details. Cut during a marathon ProTools session, the album was originally authored as one long work, but was eventually split into eleven separate tracks. At San Francisco's Comic-Con International during late July, Ogre disclosed the fact that actor Bill Moseley, known as Chop Top in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and as a collaborator alongside guitarist Brian “Buckethead” Carroll (ex Guns N' Roses) in the outfit Cornbugs, would guest upon one track. In support of the album, ohGr launched a website entitled devilsinmydetails.com.
At October 4th at five p.m. Pacific Standard Time, an online listening party occurred within a chat room on the site.
Review
As a longtime Skinny Puppy fanatic, and a frequent / infrequent ohGr fanatic, Devils In My Details admittedly requires more than several airings to appreciate. “Shhh” inaugurates Devils In My Details, and happens to be an expectedly twisted number which is seemingly exemplary. Having said that, “Shhh” is extremely difficult to hear. The number mirrors those tracks that begin via poor quality, and subsequently morph into an eminently produced monster. “Shhh” never explodes however, opting to maintain its lo-fi sonics throughout the composition's duration. The subsequent tune, “Eyecandy”, lyrically walks the listener through what is seemingly an internet masturbation scenario. Following that, “Eyecandy”'s lyrical matter assaults the number in wholesome, glitch-heavy, Industrial fashion.
The first of the album's cuts to sufficiently arrests your focus, “Psychoreal” impels you to listen. In short order, the song annihilates the distance between both listener and artist. A bounce oriented affair, a music video being filmed in support of “Psychoreal” isn't difficult to imagine. Boasting a stop motion type quality, this is occasionally disrupted via a groove. “Feelin’ Chicken”'s carnival-esque sonics prove additionally interesting, and gradually evolve into Industrial Vaudeville. A further highlight arrives in the guise of “Smogharp”'s dark, almost Hip Hop'esque beat flare, and that paves the way for swansong moment “Witness”, easily the full length's most accessible track.
Exhibiting splendid moments, flimsy moments unfortunately arrive in equal measures. “Feelin’ Chicken” features both positive, and negative, facets. Whilst appropriately suiting Devils In My Details' nature, the tune will indisputably disillusion certain fanatics. Flaunting a somewhat buried and processed acoustic guitar, “Pepper” is an utterly appalling cut. A merely baffled cloud of noise, “Whitevan” additionally detracts from the album.
To date, Devils In My Details is likely ohGr's most audacious collaboration to date. Extremely inaccessible, the full length bears few similarities to Skinny Puppy's material, and melody is all but absent. As a simple consequence, countless fans will embrace the record, whilst others will immediately reject the album for that very same reason. Albeit not ohGr's or Ogre's greatest work, it nonetheless ranks amongst the most intriguing.
