Skinny Puppy Too Dark Park LP

Influential industrial pioneers Skinny Puppy welcomed audiences into the embrace of the seminal Too Dark Park in 1990. One of the band's most influential records, it includes "Tormentor," "Spasmolytic," and more. In addition to praise from Vice and many more, Metal Hammer fittingly named it one of the "10 Best Industrial Albums," and Spin summed it up best as a "return to the bloodbath." A menacing and massive pastiche of H.P. Lovecraft-style cosmic horror, addiction, mental disarray, and the disintegration of nature, Too Dark Park remains a cataclysmic and chaotic classic through and through.

When Ministry and the Revolting Cocks were offering what could be described as industrial noise for people who weren't industrial fans, Skinny Puppy continued to thrive on the extreme and remained far to the left of rock's center. Employing more bass than Puppy's previous albums, Too Dark Park has a bit of a funk element. But make no mistake: The industrial agitators (who had influenced Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, RevCo, Godflesh, and numerous others) were hardly going after rock's mainstream. Forceful and consistently abrasive, these twisted and disturbing collages of samples, electronics, distortion, and heavy guitars push the limits of rock and are about as hardcore as it gets.