Remission (EP)

{{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Back & Forth1984Bites1985epRemissionRemission_(1984)_cover.jpgSkinny PuppyDecember 1984July–August 1984
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Remission is a 1984 EP by Canadian electro-industrial band Skinny Puppy, their record label debut and first release with Nettwerk.<ref name="kern">Template:Cite book</ref> The 12-inch EP originally featured six tracks, then, a year later in 1985, it was released on cassette with five additional songs that lengthened the release to a full album.<ref name="discogs1">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> This expansion became the default version of Remission.

Remission was certified gold by Music Canada on January 31, 2000.<ref name="MusicCA" />

Release history

In December 1984, Remission was distributed through Nettwerk as Skinny Puppy's first major release. Despite being preceded by the embryonic Back & Forth EP that was limited to just 35 home-printed copies,<ref name="kern" /> Remission is seen as the band's debut effort.<ref name="allmusic1" /> To complicate the matter further, most issues of the EP following its release year, 1984, were expanded with five additional tracks, retroactively turning it into a full-blown studio album.<ref name="kern" />

In 1993, Nettwerk released Remission on CD using the expanded track listing from the 1985 cassette release.<ref name="kern"/> However, this wasn't the first time Remission appeared in the format; the EP's first CD release was in 1987, when it (along with the appended track "Glass Out") was combined with Skinny Puppy's 1985 album Bites to form the release Bites and Remission (a compilation distinct from the less popular Remission & Bites, which was also released in 1987 and also on Nettwerk, but that preserved the original track sequence of Remission and the European sequence of Bites).<ref name="kern" /><ref name="discogs3">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

On May 17, 2018, cEvin Key released "Coma", an instrumental track created during the Remission era, through his YouTube channel.<ref name="coma1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:CbignoreTemplate:Dead Youtube links</ref>

Background and composition

Both Remission and Skinny Puppy's follow-up album Bites were created before Dwayne Goettel joined in 1986 and helped crystallize the band's hard, percussion-driven industrial sound.<ref name="allmusic2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="allmusic3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As such, Remission features more synthpop and electro elements than Skinny Puppy would come to be known for. It is one of the first known commercial releases to use a TR-909 drum machine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2013, Skinny Puppy's 12th album (4th since being reunited without the presence of Goettel), Weapon, was released as a sort of spiritual successor to both Remission and Bites. Apart from containing a re-recorded version of "Solvent" from Remission, Weapon was deliberately created with antiquated instruments to achieve their early 1980s-style electronic sound.<ref name="interview1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="phoenix1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical reception

Contemporary reception of Remission was mostly positive. The AllMusic review wrote that the EP "remains the Puppy's finest hour. The breadth of vision and amazing instrumental prowess of vocalist Nivek Ogre and sound-designer cEvin Key will likely never be transcended."<ref name="allmusic1" /> Retrospectively, Remission gained more praise, being cited as an important influence to many bands.<ref name="MH1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In an article about Skinny Puppy's broad influence, Alec Chillingworth of Metal Hammer wrote, "Al Jourgensen’s Ministry was laughable in ’84, whereas Puppy gave us Remission: an EP bursting with potential, exuding a dance-ready racket heavier than anything their contemporaries offered."<ref name="MH1" /> Fact placed Remission at number 19 on their list of 20 best industrial and EBM albums of all time, calling it "excellent electro-pop".<ref name="fact1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personnel

All credits adapted from Remission liner notes.<ref name="notes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Skinny Puppy

• Nivek Ogre – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, spooky horn<ref name="litanyweb">Template:Cite interviewTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
• cEvin Key – synthesizer, drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, treatments, production

Additional personnel

• Dave Ogilvie – production, engineering
• Bill Leeb (credited as Wilhelm Schroeder) – bass synth on "Incision", "Manwhole", and "Ice Breaker"
• D. Plevin – fretless bass on "Glass Houses"
• Steven R. Gilmore – cover art
• Greg Sykes – typography