"Rabies" is the fifth studio album by Skinny Puppy, released on November 21, 1989, through Nettwerk. The album features contributions from Ministry's frontman Al Jourgensen (credited as Alien Jourgensen), who performed electric guitar and vocals on several tracks. The album spawned two singles, "Tin Omen" and "Worlock," with the latter becoming one of the band's most iconic songs. The cover art was created by longtime Skinny Puppy collaborator Steven R. Gilmore. In 1993, the CD edition was reissued to correct mastering errors present in the original release.
Upon its release, Rabies achieved commercial success for the band but received mixed reviews from critics. Some critics drew comparisons between the album and Ministry’s style, both favorably and unfavorably. A joint tour with Ministry, KMFDM, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, dubbed The Mutants of Rock Tour, was planned but eventually canceled when Skinny Puppy withdrew from the project.
Recording and production
For most of Skinny Puppy's previous albums, production was handled by the band's "fourth member," Dave "Rave" Ogilvie. However, for Rabies, lead singer and songwriter Nivek Ogre enlisted Ministry's frontman Al Jourgensen to help with the album's production. Ogre and Jourgensen had become acquainted during the recording of the PTP song "Show Me Your Spine" in 1987, and Ogre later toured with Ministry. Ogre also contributed vocals to Jourgensen's side project Revolting Cocks.
The other members of Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel, were not pleased with Jourgensen's involvement, leading to tensions within the band. This caused what Key later described as a "glacial coldness" between the band members. Key expressed in a 1991 interview with Alternative Press that he believed Jourgensen's involvement in the album was an attempt to break up Skinny Puppy.
Much of Rabies was written before Jourgensen's involvement, although Key mentioned that the writing process was influenced by the idea that Jourgensen might join them in the studio to jam. As a result, the band wrote guitar-heavy material like "Tin Omen," which references the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. "Fascist Jock Itch," another song influenced by Jourgensen’s style, was inspired by a confrontation Ogre had with skinheads. Ogre recalls an incident where skinheads questioned him about his "loyalty to communism" based on a small Red star on his pants, leading to a brief scuffle. Other tracks on the album, such as "Worlock" and "Choralone," were considered more in line with the band’s previous work.
"Hexonxonx," a track inspired by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, critiques the use of oil and has been described as an example of Skinny Puppy’s signature mix of twisted humor and experimental sounds. The album also features innovative sampling techniques, which would become a hallmark of the band’s style.
"Worlock" became a staple of the band's live shows after its release. The track features a vocoder effect on the chorus created using a Roland Harmonizer. The song also samples "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles, along with an excerpt of Charles Manson singing the song, taken from the 1973 documentary Manson.
Release and promotion
The original CD release of Rabies (both on Nettwerk and the licensed version on Capitol) suffered from mastering issues due to the use of Dolby B noise reduction, resulting in a muffled sound. In 1993, the album was digitally remastered and re-released by Nettwerk to correct these issues.
The only promotional video produced for Rabies was for the track "Worlock." The video was a rhythmically edited collage of horror movie clips, including outtakes and segments from the band's earlier video for "Stairs and Flowers" (from Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse). The video, which begins with a "Rated X" graphic, was intended as a critique of censorship in America, and many of the horror movie clips came from films directed by the controversial Italian filmmaker Dario Argento, whose works were frequently censored in the United States. The video included footage from Argento films such as Deep Red, Suspiria, Tenebrae, Phenomena, and Opera, as well as scenes from The Beyond, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Bad Taste, Dead and Buried, Luther The Geek, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, From Beyond, Death Warmed Up, Eraserhead, and Altered States. Due to the graphic violence in the video, as well as copyright violations, "Worlock" was banned by MTV and did not receive any airplay. The video was also excluded from the Skinny Puppy music video compilation released in 1992, partly due to copyright concerns and the potential for the video to be banned in other countries for its graphic content. In recent years, the video has been widely circulated among fans on the internet.
As part of the album's promotion, a limited run of promotional mechanical pencils shaped like syringes was sent to radio stations. These pencils were white with black lettering reading "SKINNY [PUPPY]" and "RABIES."
The Mutants of Rock Tour, which was to include Skinny Puppy, Ministry, KMFDM, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, was scheduled to begin on December 27, 1989. However, the tour was canceled when Skinny Puppy decided to withdraw from the project due to internal concerns. Although Key suggested the possibility of a summer 1990 tour, he expressed doubt that a tour supporting Rabies would ever happen. Instead, Ogre joined Ministry’s tour for The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste.
