2003 with Walk. Their first new song together, titled "Optimissed", was included on the Underworld soundtrack. Key and Ogre both observed how positively their relationship had developed since their reunion, noting in particular a respect for each other's opinions which had been absent in the past. Key attributed his rekindled partnership with Ogre to their sobriety from hard drugs, saying "we have a few drinks, and we smoke weed. Every other drug only pulled us away from being better at what we could have been." Ogre remarked, "why hold to your grave these irrelevant reasons not to have a relationship with someone you shared so much of your life with?' I spent a lot of time with this guy making music, you know?" Ogilvie formed his own band, Jakalope, in 2003 and did not return to Skinny Puppy. Composition The band avoided external influences when recording the album, instead opting to seek inspiration from their previous work and hone elements that they thought they could expand on. This included using synthesizers that had been employed in the recording of 1984's Remission, some of which were utilized in the song "Past Present". Key also used a wide variety of new equipment when composing, explaining that it "helped us to do a better job at what we've always done". Other inspiration came from shared experiences; the song "Goneja" was inspired by a trip Key and Ogre took to Jamaica. Additional musicians were brought in, including support from Tool drummer Danny Carey and Static-X frontman Wayne Static. Key worked with guest musicians one-on-one to avoid "making it an overwhelming situation with too many cooks in the kitchen". The band dropped the jam session style of music making they had used in the past and adopted a more focused style of writing, where one member would come up with an idea and the others would take turns expanding on it. The band produced 40 demo tracks from which Ogre choose what he felt best suited his lyrics. Commenting on the album's sound, Key said he knew people would be divided on the band's direction. He continued, "I've heard some people complaining, like, 'Ohhh, there's just not enough pure hardcore noise or completely discombobulated beats,' and it's like, well, maybe we'll get there again! We could have made a solid noise album, but that would have been an album that sounded like not so much