After hearing the brilliant The Gospel, I was wondering if that divine experience can be re-lived, not even daring to think topped. But then, there was this remix album and I wanted to discover which masterminds of industrial music genre came together to give The Gospel songs a new breath of creativity and imagination. I got my answer in the form of the tracklist of the Swine & Punishment collection of outstanding remixes.
PIG has gathered some of the most talented artists to contribute to this release. And we can clearly hear how those minds envisioned PIG’s work.
One of my favourite The Gospel tracks, “Viva Evil”, was the first on the menu. In the Oumi Kapila’s hands “Viva Evil” seemed to have lost “viva” and became just the “evil” twin sister of the original. The remix sent shivers down my spine. The pop-rock expression of the original song was replaced by the more sinister feel which transformed the song into an almost creepy and very unsettling version. The reworked track feels like a song of its own, with a refrain that you can recognize. However, it’s twisted and modified to such extent that it shows the remixer’s desire to give it a new life. Pull Out Kings did the bouncy version of “Found in Filth” which adds more of a dancy groove to the original sound. The first remix of “The Diamond Sinners” on this album came from Skold. While the remix mostly follows the original, the wonderful piano line which can be heard on the second half of the song really adds to the general idea of this artist. “The Fly Upon The Pin” seemed like a difficult choice for a remix, but Android Lust did a great job. This slow dancer didn’t lose its thread and although the song is mellow and soothing, especially in comparison to the rest of The Gospel repertoire, Android Lust made it even more floating and ethereal with acoustic and electronic elements intertwining in a most beautiful way. The rest of the album offers the same tracks reworked by other artists and it was intriguing to hear different versions. “Viva Evil” was the choice of Inertia, Mortiis and Joe Haze. While Oumi Kapila made it more obscure, Inertia made it more poppy, Mortiis gave it a more electronic and industrial dimension while preserving the rock vibe at the same time, and Joe Haze went into the electro-punk direction. After hearing Skold’s version of “The Devil Sinners”, I heard it in Indradevi interpretation, which is somewhat simplified, stripped and more minimalistic, but at the same time groovy and funky. However, I was very curious how the London After Midnight’s version of the song would sound. There was a recognizable LAM feel to it and “The Devil Sinners” became a goth song! It started almost like a mystical ceremony calling with the sound of the bell tolling, but the remix soon introduced the recognizable refrain and I could focus on the guitar and bass. “The Diamond Sinners” was the choice for Kanga’s remix as well. Kanga decided to play with the song in a more electronic direction and she almost completely altered the true nature of the original. The remix offered wonderful synth arrangements and soundscapes. Kanga introduced her own vocal to the remix which invites the listener to the world of her extraordinary imagination. She transformed this industrial-rock piece into a wondrous electronic atmosphere number and she proved once more the greatness of her artistic talent. Marc Heal’s “Found in Filth” remix put a smile on my face with the cleverly chosen and absolutely witty spoken samples about “pork”. I don’t know where the samples were taken from, but they surely fit the image of PIG. The remix altered the original from r’n’r song to an utterly danceable number, something that could be served not as a “pork” dish at the dinner table, but as a delicious treat on the dance floor. Marc aka MC Lord of the Flies got to the bottom of PIG and presented his version in less serious and more casual approach. A fantastic remix and entirely unique approach to the song which really stands out as the funniest moment on this compilation. Listening on repeat advised! The track that ended the album was “Violence”, previously released only on the vinyl format of The Gospel. There is not much that I have left you to discover on your own, but get your hands on this absolutely stunning collection ASAP! My words are really not sufficient.
Bandcamp: https://metropolisrecords.bandcamp.com/album/swine-and-punishment
