The Process – breakup
Ogre, Key, and Goettel signed a contract with
American Recordings and moved to
Malibu, California, in 1993 to record
The Process, a concept album inspired by 1960s cult
The Process Church of The Final Judgment, with
Roli Mosimann producing. The recording sessions were beset by everything from fires to the
Northridge earthquake, and Mosimann was eventually replaced with
Martin Atkins. Atkins' presence exacerbated the rift that was forming between Ogre on the one hand, and Key and Goettel on the other. The band's bickering and excessive drug use made the recording process so long and costly that American reduced Skinny Puppy's contract from three albums to one. In 1994, Key and Goettel returned to Vancouver with the master tapes, but Ogre remained in
Los Angeles and quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995. Goettel was found dead of a heroin overdose in his parents' home two months later.
The Process was eventually completed with Rave, released in 1996, and dedicated to the memory of Goettel. It was an overall stylistic departure from their previous albums, prominently featuring untreated vocals, guitar, and more accessible song structures. The liner notes that accompanied the CD included thank-yous to "Electronic Music Lovers" and "Puppy People", followed by the words "The End" in bold type.
During the
Process era, a loose-knit art/philosophy collective also known as
The Process was formed, with early contributions from Ogre and
Genesis P-Orridge, among others. P-Orridge and
Larry Thrasher of
Psychic TV jammed with Skinny Puppy during this period, a recording of which was eventually released as
Puppy Gristle in a limited edition in 2002. These jams partly inspired the creation of the
Download project, which Key and Goettel formed with
Mark Spybey and
Phil Western in 1994. Download explored everything from electronic improvisation with spoken vocals to
minimal techno and
IDM, and toured in 1996. Earlier, in 1993, Goettel and Western had issued a
breakbeat hardcore single on their own
Subconscious Records, and after Goettel's death in 1995, Subconscious evolved into a recording studio and record label imprint that Key used to release a number of his own and Skinny Puppy's recordings. Key also continued to work with
The Tear Garden, produced
ambient techno and
chill out music with Western in the side project
platEAU, and released his first solo album in 1998.
Ogre had toured extensively with Martin Atkins' industrial
supergroup Pigface since 1991, and toured with them again in 1995 after leaving Skinny Puppy. He recorded material for his side project W.E.L.T. with
Ruby's Mark Walk before quitting Skinny Puppy, but due to legal issues with American Recordings, this would not see release until 2001 under the new name
ohGr. In the meantime, he guested with
KMFDM in 1997 and 1999, and released an album with Martin Atkins under the name
Rx (also known as Ritalin). The ohGr and Rx releases included some of Ogre's most pop-oriented songwriting to date. Ogre and Mark Walk also contributed several tracks to the
Descent II game soundtrack.
Several collections were released while Skinny Puppy was dormant, including
Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4 in 1996 and
The Singles Collect and
B-Sides Collect in 1999. Nettwerk commissioned a
remix album in 1998; titled
remix dystemper, it featured classic Skinny Puppy tracks re-worked by a diverse range of artists, including IDM pioneers
Autechre, alt-metal band
Deftones, and rapper/hip hop producer
Guru. Ogre and Mark Walk also took part, contributing a
breakcore remix of "Dig It" and an updated version of
Remission's "Smothered Hope" with new vocals by Ogre.
