Made in the mid 80's. When I first showed my fiance a few years ago the song "Assimilate" and asked her "So, guess what year this song was made..." she said, "I'd guess 1993" I was not supprised at all. Flocks of rivetheads and industrialites have tried thier best to have similar sound to Skinny Puppy yet so many failures to capitolize on it lay in their wake.

"Bites" is an ambiant journey as much as a dance album. Pioneering ambiant scapes were with names like Richard James and his famed "Aphex Twin" and ofcourse the ever amazing kEVin cEY of the wonderful Skinny Puppy, Download, Pleateu and even a self titled album or two he managed to do well with. Bites is a reminder that all music can weave together and be blissfull amongst eachother. If you ever notice it seems most of the greatest bands ever were never easily defined untill they almost created a whole scene. Industrial was never known to have a affiliate sound untill Skinny Puppy made the scene.

This album is all thrill and satisfaction nd that is guarenteed. Listen to "Assimilate and "The choke" for 2 perfect dance songs and all the rest of this album for dreamscapes, interludes and emotions avast.

To be honest, this is my favourite SP album to date. The songs are some of the most left-field work i have ever heard, but at the same time, very accessible. The album kicks off with one of the best songs of their career, ASSIMILATE. A dancy, mechanical anthem with a great lyrical structure and epic chorus. Much of the album is made up of instrumental tracks (which are fantastic) but the driving force is songs like THE CHOKE, DEADLINES, LAST CALL, SOCIAL DECEPTION, etc. Overall, BITES has a cleaner sound than many of their later works, relying more on their strange alien melodies and unique percussive rhythms. If you are interested in one of the defining albums of early industrial, give this a listen. I doubt you will be disappointed.

This is one of my fav skinny puppy albums next to Too Dark Park and Mind: It has all the best samples and still retains that 80's feel. I cant get tired of this disc and you shouldnt either. Listen to this with the lights off

I have to disagree with the conclusion of another review that this album is somehow derivative and that it sounds like "bad" albums from earlier industrial bands. (I don't think it's nearly as repetitive as the Cabaret Voltaire that I've heard, to be specific.) It sounds early, naturally: it's the first large release Skinny Puppy ever did, so it's certainly not going to sound much like any of their later albums, which were projects of larger scope. I started out listening to the more recent recordings, and it took me a while to appreciate this album; it's a lot more harsh and rough around the edges. It's not as polished as later recordings, and in my opinion, Ogre sounds scarier on this album than on any other. (Maybe low-quality recording equipment and tape hiss? Who cares? It's neato keen.) There are a lot more instrumental tracks than any of the later albums (I'd say it's almost 50/50 vocal/instrumental), which is possibly the album's only weak point. Put "Assimilate," "Deadlines" and "The Choke" on constant repeat, crank up the volume, and make your neighbors wonder what sorts of hell creatures you're attempting to summon.

I remember I bought this cd 5 years ago without having ever listened to Skinny Puppy at all; I liked it at the first listening. It is true that it's perhaps too long and has too many instrumental tracks, but on the other hand, every track seems necessary to create a dark soundtrack atmosphere which made me fall in love with Bites. From the first track, 'Assimilate' you assimilate (allow me the easy joke) the general tone of the work; I think it's not that spontaneous but I think it has a somewhat conceptual sense. The vocal songs are good, but the instrumental ones are also interesting, even though they stmes get too repetitive, that's true. The curious thing is that just after i bought this cd I also bought VIVISectVI, and I disliked it; it never grew on me since somebody advised me to buy Too Dark Park; I loved this, and then I gave a thousandth chance to VIVISectVI, and now I think it is one of the best industrial works ever. (Now I don't agree with my own review on VIVISectVI) Bites is not the best Puppy's work, obviously, but it helped me to know what these people were about, and to put Puppy's cds at the same level with my favourites ever: Front 242; Both bands are good at their styles, which I always see not as similar but complementary.