ohGr

As half of Skinny Puppy, Nivek Ogre (or just Ogre, or Kevin Ogilvie) created a much-imitated, arresting blend of industrial and hard rock, belched forth amid bewildering onstage '80s theatrics. A showman from the beginning, Ogre quickly used his theater of the horrifically absurd as a platform to rail against injustices like chemical warfare and animal testing. So as Skinny Puppy waned (the first time), it was no surprise he would take the reins of his own project, the every-so-slightly softer ohGr. A shifting collective whose only consistent members are Ogre and pal Mark Walk, ohGr draws from a more varied musical palette, dipping further into electronic sounds on one side, some metal on the other. ohGr's new album, October's Devils in My Details, was originally inspired by Ogre's discovery and adoption of a mangy, abused dog in a park, but the focus soon shifted as his personal demons reappeared. He says the resulting music, an abrasive but tuneful collection anchored by Walk's keyboard and studio alchemy, is the "closest thing to my original emotional experience." See how Ogre's latest batch of Sturm und Drang translates to the stage.