“The human animal is a ‘weapon’,” says SKINNY PUPPPY vocalist niVek ohGr about the eponymous title of their upcoming album (Metropolis Records; release date: May 28, 2013). “Every action and thought, conceived then carried out; whether political, physical or spiritual, has the potential to cause harm and misery; just as the same action, not underwritten with fear and misinformation, but carried by only positive intent would have the opposite effect.”
Standing as a commentary on that which it is named after, Weapon, or more specifically, to the concurrent glorification of the gun culture and simultaneous horror at the devastation guns can cause, the stunning new album tackles the difficult topic in an intelligent and philosophical way without losing track of the music built around it. A return to form of sorts while still pushing forward as Skinny Puppy always has, Weapon is a tour de force whose pop undertones are a compelling counterpoint to the vocals and lyrics that reflect our mass homogenization of an instrument of death into an entertainment centerpiece.
