''Cleanse Fold and Manipulate'' is the third studio album by Canadian

electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...

group

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...

. The album was released in 1987 and was supported by a single, "

Addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

". The album was further supported by the ''Head Trauma'' tour, which spanned across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. '' Ain't it Dead Yet?'', a recording of the group performing in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, was released on video in 1989 and CD in 1991.

Music

''Cleanse Fold and Manipulate'' explores a number of different topics concerning medicine, society, and politics. The song "First Aid" addresses what was the growing

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

epidemic of the 1980s, while "Second Tooth" concerns with the struggles faced by

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veterans, namely post-traumatic stress. The song "Deep Down Trauma Hounds" was written following a string of teenage

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

s in the United States.

Nivek Ogre Kevin Graham Ogilvie (born December 5, 1962), known professionally as Nivek Ogre, is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor, best known for his work with the industrial music group Skinny Puppy, which he co-founded with cEvin Key. Si ...

, the group's vocalist and songwriter, said of the suicides: Other songs on the album pay homage to

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

s. The song "The Mourn" is based on the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese extreme horror movie '' Flower of Flesh and Blood'' from the ''

Guinea Pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

'' film series. According to the group, the film was the closest they had ever come to seeing what they felt was a real snuff movie. Footage from the film has since been used in their live shows.

Release

''Cleanse Fold and Manipulate'' was released on June 25, 1987. Eyeball paperweights were distributed by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

to help promote the album. The record sold 80,000 copies by October 1988, with 90 percent of sales being outside

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Critical reception

Tim DiGravina of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said the album was "hard to recommend". He went on to say while it did contain one of the band's best songs, "Deep Down Trauma Hounds", much of the album was ambient and fragmentary. Still, he added, "fans of industrial music will appreciate the album's formidable beats and coarse sound samples that seem to be generated from warping the sounds of heavy machinery. Perhaps more than other any place in Skinny Puppy's discography, Ogre's vocals work like spoken-word stream-of-conscious dementia, with more emphasis on evil tones than on any relation to their music". He concluded by saying the album was primarily recommendable to die hard fans. Evelyn Erskine from the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'' gave the album a favorable review, saying the album was "dark and frightening", and described the flow of its songs as "cinematic". Erskine remarked that the album was weakened by the band's overreliance on gothic horror elements. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine recommended the album, calling it "the right combination of gloom-and-doom lyrics and throbbing, metallic music". ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine said listening to the album was "like stepping into a nightmare being experienced by the Phantom of the Opera" and concluded that the band was "too garish for extended exposure but, in small doses, they are extremely powerful". Mike Saunders of the ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'' thought the album was an intriguing accomplishment, but that the initial "voyeuristic thrill" received from listening wears off before the album ends. Frances Litman from the ''

Times Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific ...

'' thought the album was tamer than the band's previous work and only recommended it to club-goers.

Track listing

Additional notes

*To promote the album,

(who were responsible for the release of Skinny Puppy music outside of Canada) distributed eyeball

paperweight A paperweight is a small solid object heavy enough, when placed on top of papers, to keep them from blowing away in a breeze or from moving under the strokes of a painting brush (as with Chinese calligraphy). While any object, such as a stone, ...

s. *''Cleanse Fold and Manipulate'' is a cyclical album: the end of track 10, "Epilogue", segues into the beginning of track 1, "First Aid." *In response to the cover's source image by Gilmore: "It is an image from the original 1960s movie of '' Village Of The Damned''. There is a little tongue-in-cheek history behind using that image as the manager for Images In Vogue, a band that C. Key used to be in before Skinny Puppy, was a former child model from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and had a role in the movie. But the face on the cover was another child actor from the movie." *"Draining Faces" was featured on ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. One of the most successful independent films of all time, it is a " found footage" pseudo-docume ...

'' soundtrack.

Personnel

All information from

Musicians

– voices, lyrics, objects, audio sculpture *

cEvin Key Kevin William Crompton (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as cEvin Key, is a Canadian musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. He is best known as a member of the industrial music group Skinny Puppy, which he co-founded in 1982 ...

– synthesizers, guitar, drums, bass, voices, lyrics, sampling, sequencing, sounds, objects, radio, tapes, sequencers *

Dwayne Goettel Dwayne Rudolph Goettel (February 1, 1964August 23, 1995) was a Canadian Electronic music, electronic musician, best known for his work in the industrial music group Skinny Puppy. Starting his career playing for a variety of acts around Edmonton, h ...

– synthesizers, guitar, drums, background vocals sampling, tape, sequencing, radio, sequencers, synthesizers, guitar, drums, bass, voices, lyrics, sampling, sequencing, sounds, objects, radio, tapes, sequencers and set ALL the input of Crompton a.k.a. cEvin Key to entropy. * Peter Rave – guitar

Production

* Producers – cEvin Key, Dave Ogilvie * Engineers – cEvin Key, Dave Ogilvie * Mastering – Pete Norman * Cover artwork – Steven R. Gilmore

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1987 albums Skinny Puppy albums Nettwerk Records albums