Inspired by the music of Suicide, SPK, Cabaret Voltaire, Chrome, Throbbing Gristle, Nocturnal Emissions, Portion Control, and The Legendary Pink Dots, music which had been accessible to the band primarily via tape exchange, Skinny Puppy experimented with analog and digital recording techniques, composing multi-layered music with synthesizers, drum machines, acoustic percussion, tape loops, samplers, and conventional rock music instruments to create what they called "audio sculpture". Their extensive use of sampling from horror films and radio broadcasts served to "clarify or obscure" song meanings, and they applied liberal amounts of distortion and other effects to Ogre's vocals, which are often delivered as a stream of consciousness. Lyrics commonly reference social and political subjects including animal rights, environmental degradation, drug addiction, suicide, war, privacy, and self-determination. They have also used their music to draw attention to events such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the AIDS epidemic, and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term "brap", coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".