Bites (album)

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Billboard	Favorable

Bites is the first full-length studio album by Skinny Puppy, released as an LP under Nettwerk in 1985. In 1993 it was reissued on CD with additional material originally performed by Hell-O Death Day, a pseudonym used for the band while they toured as an opener for the electronic act Chris and Cosey.

The first CD release of Bites was on the compilation Bites and Remission in 1987. This release did not include all of the tracks featured on the earlier cassette release, which was significantly longer, and replaced the songs "Assimilate" and "The Choke" with remixed versions. A similar CD called Remission & Bites was released by Play It Again Sam in Europe during the same year. On the 1993 reissue, the song "One Day" is not listed anywhere in the artwork or credits.

The cover art was designed by Steven R. Gilmore.

Track listing

Original LP release (Canada - 15ntwk)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Assimilate"
2.	"Dead Lines"
3.	"Blood on the Wall"
4.	"Icebreaker"
5.	"The Choke"
6.	"Social Deception"
7.	"Basement"
8.	"Last Call"
9.	"Film"

Original LP release (Belgium - FACE 15)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Assimilate"	6:54
2.	"The Choke"	6:30
3.	"Blood On the Wall"	2:57
4.	"Church"	3:12
5.	"Deadlines"	6:11
6.	"Last Call"	5:54
7.	"Basement"	3:28
8.	"Tomorrow"	4:54
Total length:		40:00

Cassette release (Side 1)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Assimilate"
2.	"Blood on the Wall"
3.	"Deadlines"
4.	"Icebreaker"
5.	"Film"
6.	"Church"

Cassette release (Side 2)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Choke"
2.	"Christianity"
3.	"Social Deception"
4.	"Basement"
5.	"Last Call"
6.	"Tomorrow"
7.	"Love"

CD Re-issue

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Assimilate"	6:56
2.	"Blood On the Wall"	2:58
3.	"Dead Lines"	6:13
4.	"Church"	3:16
5.	"Icebreaker"	3:14
6.	"Tomorrow"	4:53
7.	"Dead Doll"	2:28
8.	"Film"	2:18
9.	"Love"	1:51
10.	"The Choke"	6:29
11.	"Social Deception"	2:57
12.	"Christianity"	1:32
13.	"Basement"	3:25
14.	"Last Call"	5:54
15.	"Falling"	4:20
16.	"The Centre Bullet"	9:42
17.	"One Day" (Hidden track)	4:20
Total length:		72:46

Personnel

Credits from Allmusic.

• Nivek Ogre - vocals, guitars, synthesizers, metallic percussions, treatments and objects
• cEvin Key - bass guitars, guitars, synthesizers, sequencers, tapes, sampler, treatments, acoustic and metallic percussions, drums
• Dave Ogilvie - (as David Ogilvie) production, engineering
• Wilhelm Schroeder - bass synth on "Icebreaker" and "The Choke"
• Tom Ellard - production, mixing, tapes, treatments, and digital sampling on "Assimilate"
• D. Pleven - bass guitar destruction on "Blood on the Wall"
• Terry McBride - executive production

Samples

• The song "Assimilate" contains a sample from the 1976 film Marathon Man–"Is it safe?".
• The song "Blood on the Wall" contains a sample from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)–"You see? They say it's just an old man talking. You laugh at an old man. There's them that laughs and knows better." It also contains samples from The Tenant.
• The song "The Choke" contains samples from the 1976 film The Tenant–"If you cut off my head, what would I say? Me and my... Me and my head, or me and my body?".
• The songs "Church", "Icebreaker", "Love" and "Basement" contain samples from the 1973 film The Legend of Hell House–"Get out before I kill you all!"
• The song "The Center Bullet" appears with vocals by Edward Ka-Spel of Legendary Pink Dots on the Key/Goettel/Ka-Spel side-project The Tear Garden on their The Tear Garden EP and Tired Eyes Slowly Burning albums.