Published by Davide Pappalardo on March 23, 2019
We have recently reviewed Raymond Watts‘, the English artist behind the nickname PIG, album Risen, a strong return to form for the seminal musician with hard hitting guitars and enthralling electronics. Now we are going to analyze the companion effort called Stripped & Whipped, in which different artists remix and rework tracks coming from the aforementioned output.
Watts has been active in the industrial music scene since the early 1980s, working with names like Einstürzende Neubauten, Foetus, Psychic TV, Zos Kia and he has been a key member of KMFDM for years. His main project PIG is the place in which he conceives a personal mix of metal, industrial, new wave, country, jazz, folk, classical music, the vehicle for his tales of nihilism, sarcasm, addiction, sex obsession, and opposition to bigotism and religious oppression.
Stripped & Whipped is way more than just a collection of random remixes published for the sake of easy money. Nothing sounds half-assed or out of place, no sub-par leftovers or fillers, and the album has a perfect flow. More than that, despite the different genres and takes on the tracks, it sounds as a very coherent and strong effort, and it’s even better than the already good original album Rise.
This work gives us a broad vision of of some facets of contemporary Industrial and underground electronic scene: we have electro/industrial rock with Evestus, Needleye, Der Prosector, and The Birthday Massacre, EBM and techno-industrial with Wiccid, Randolph & Mortimer, Black Asteroid, I!, experimental electronic music with Tweaker and Eden, and other interesting interpretations.
The chosen few is reworked by the Lithuanian musician Evestus into an even moodier affair with slow tempos and piano sounds, enriched by ethereal choirs, before turning in a machine-rock mantra with mechanical rhythms, while Tweaker renders Mophine machine as an urban sleazy ride with broken sounds and sudden explosions of electro-rock refrains, An acid atmosphere characterized this very enthralling remix.
PIG himself transforms Loud, lawless & lost, with the help of En Esch, into an old-school EBM episode with throbbing bass-lines and hard hitting drum machines. Surprisingly, he gives more space to the electronic elements with a renewed mastery which recalls KMFDM’s early days. Needleye remix The revelation, giving us an industrial metal attack with the guest guitars of Michael Spreitzer (DevilDriver). Strong drums and cutting loops are the main weapon of the track, which conveys an apocalyptic atmosphere.
Go Fight work on Truth is sin using syncopated rhythms that enhances Watts’ crooning vocal delivery, following a rigid path upon which evocative elements are layered. There is something emotional in this remix, showing a different aspect of the music here contained, and during the last part of the track the tension shows itself in a well structured crescendo. Der Prosector reinterprets The vice girls as another moody episode with electro-rock undertones and melodic guitars, Seething Akira remix Rise & repent, evoking broken structures and dubstep effects.
One of the highlights on the album is the EBM/Hi-NRG remix of Leather pig by Randolph & Mortimer, a dancefloor destroyer with whooping bass sounds and old-school drum machines. Orchestral arches and female vocals enrich the main refrain with a melancholic taste. Eden takes When I’m done and gives attention to its classical melodies and melancholic arpeggios, conceiving a tearful ballad with some electronic interference.
Canadian stars The Birthday Massacre add their formula made of nostalgic retro keys and robust riffs to The cult of chaos, telling us a story with creeping movements and sudden explosions full of pathos, and Wiccid works on The hangman’s wooing using broken rhythms and electro takes on the original track. Prey & obey sees the teaming of Watts and Marc Heal of Cubanate fame under the guise of MC Lord Of The Flies, showcasing a Kraftwerk-inspired bass-line and stomping drum kicks, while keeping the riffing nature of the track and its memorable refrain.
Black Asteroid goes strong with dark techno-industrial elements on Hard machine, employing steady snare drums and obsessive bass sounds enriched by shrilling loops. A lysergic interpretation for late-night dancefloors full of fumes and stale air. I! remix Ecstasy & exorcism using interesting slow sounds with a calm and lounge nature, without forfeiting broken structures and IDM moments.
The digital version of the album sees three additional remixes: Cyanotic give us their interpretation of Leather pig by the means of their glitch-rock with compulsive electronics and hard-hitting drums, using samples guitars as a tool for aural crescendos and arpeggiators as enthralling companions to the female choirs, while chillwave artist Dogtablet injects Loud, lawless & lost with broken beats and highly emotional sounds, giving force to the charming vocal delivery by Watts, and Ventenner returns to industrial-rock with their busy reinterpretation of Ecstasy & exorcism, full of distorted guitar riffs and dub effects with an acid atmosphere.
Stripped & Whipped is a satisfying experience, a remix album which stands on its own feet and has its own character and identity. As already said, it works even better than the original album, recalling the more experimental side of PIG, but with a modern twist. For sure another sign of the constant rise (no pun intended) of the English artist since his return to the scene, and it makes us wonder what will come next.
Label: Armalyte Industries
Rating: 8,5