Review Summary: Don't believe the album title.
Since we should’ve received the new Skinny Puppy album about two years ago, a new ohGr album is about the best it’s going to get at this point. Thankfully, Ogre’s side project is developing into something more than a side project. With his fourth full length in the last 10 years,
unDeveloped is a delightful cluster of industrial influenced electro-pop songs that give a new direction to Ogre’s work as a musician. Be warned however, there is no Skinny Puppy influence in this album, but that turns out to be for the best. Without his band mates, Ogre is left to try new things and the final project is an enjoyable, accessible industrial album for both beginners and veterans alike.
As previously mentioned, this album and most of ohGr’s material is nothing to compare to Skinny Puppy’s.
unDeveloped is a mixed bag of electro-industrial beats, soaring vocals and more catchy chorus’s than you can shake a stick at. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few tracks that offer your regular fear inspired vocals, but those are followed up by more light, airy vocals. The beginning of the album is a bit of a drag. We have two opening tracks, both preceded by their own separate intro tracks, entirely unnecessary. After that you’ll find “Pissage” which is the first of many solid tracks on this album. It’s near harsh vocal delivery and tight beats give it the familiar Orge feeling from the get go. After that is the album’s catchiest, and dare I say, best track “Comedown”. With it’s soaring vocals and electro beats, it’s easy to see how Orge was able to shift his artistic influence from writing for Skinny Puppy to ohGr.
Many of the tracks are set up in the same fashion and it’s a refreshing break from the everyday industrial album. After that there is one more filler track, which is for some reason just over four minutes long. Titled “Typer”, it’s nothing more than noise and a typerwriter. Just another useless four minutes there so be sure to just skip over it. “Bellew” is the most pop influenced song on the album hands down. Sporting electro-pop beats with a touch of industrial in the background it showcases the range of Ogre’s vocals and just shows more and more variance in the album itself. If the point of this album was to move away from his industrial past then Ogre hit the nail directly on the head. “traGek” still has the industrial feel to it, but gives way to all the pop sensibilities that we’ve been listening to the whole album. One of the last tracks, “Nitwitz” is the most traditional industrial song you’re going to find here. Again, Ogre’s vocals don’t differ much from previous songs but the beats and riffs are present to make it sound the most Skinny Puppy-esque possible.
Although we can’t be sure what Nivek’s direction for this album was; the thing we do know for sure is that he succeeded. He took what he had been working for in the past three solo albums and created this album which might not be the album that all the Skinny Puppy fans wanted, but with a few listens they’ll learn to appreciate the work he put into it. Besides, what’s the point of a solo project if it sounds like the main band anyways?
