Warning, rant coming! I don’t know about you but one thing that has been really galling over the last couple of pandemic clad years is the constant bilious propaganda being bombarded out by those in a privileged position, musicians in particular preaching from their pulpit over what they have no knowledge or authority on. (Yes, I appreciate on a lesser scale you could say that is exactly what I am doing here). Every time you look on a metal “gossip” site though, another one of these Covidiots is spinning their take on things, be it Redneck “activists” doing just what the doctor didn’t order, Comatose Christian Cocks (who the fuck are Skillet anyway) or aging once respected punks who after putting all manner of untested drugs in their bodies are crying out over vaccinations. I’m not singling metal out either, there have been plenty of swollen testicles in the commercial arena too. Yep, it’s enough to make your blood boil but the one good thing as far as I am concerned is nobody that I have admired over the decades has particularly embarrassed themselves. Take Al Jourgensen for example, not one backwards in coming forwards everyone’s favourite Ministerial Motormouth has been relatively quiet, sitting back and watching the chaos unfold. Until now that is, as similarly fed up with the lack of “moral hygiene” surrounding us he has used his 15th Ministry album to react about the issues of the day, Covid, equality, liberties and exploitative politicians; as you can guess it’s going to be a wild ride. Anyone who thinks music and politics should not be mixed are going to want to avoid this album like the plague itself.
Full of industrial styled sledgehammering riffs, sound-bytes, samples, sirens and other alarming sonic squalls, the ten tracks start with the foreboding question of “how concerned are you?” as the ‘Alert Level’ moves from green to red and panic spreads. Mid-paced and brooding it’s a call to arms which musically harks back through the years leaving a terrible taste in your ears. Some wax-traxy grooves and moves shake subtly in the background and you know that this is a prelude to chaos which would be an excellent opening track at a show. ‘Good Trouble’ devolves into a foot stomping beat with that excellent bluesy harmonica sound breezing in the wind as percussion thumps and bodies grind along to the sinuous beats. Then we get a really shake up and it is not just the album artwork that is gloriously Lardy, as a fellow collaborator lends his unmistakable voice. ‘Sabotage Is Sex’ and Jello Biafra is on hand to warble as we are rocked out and pogo around to backing gang vocals, samples and juddering fretwork. What a difference things might be in the USA if it was this pair not just in the musical house but the White one too as president and vice. ‘Disinformation’ the subject at hand is thudded out jackhammer style and bounces all over the shop just as it has in the media. When the chorus hits with rafter raising vocals, it expresses the danger by slapping you up round the head and musically displaying the aberrant danger of information wars.
Ministry have always been ones to do delicious cover songs and mutate them to their own style and here they pick the Stooges classic ‘Search and Destroy’ Starting like a punky reggae party it oozes into a slow but instantly identifiable version of the song that everyone should know and be quickly singing along to; in a word “marvellous.” All that’s missing is having Henry Rollins on board as Minister Of Defence. If anything, the second half of the album ups the volatility and disgust levels but there is at times a feeling of hope rather than utter misery about it all. From the cleaner vocalised ‘Believe Me’ with its ground-levelling chorus and melody that has you off your seat and dancing to the sitar-etched, country twang of ‘Believe Me.’ From John Bechdel’s strange keyboard squibs to Ray Mayorga’s tribal drumming thwacks other musicians involved should not be ignored on songs like ‘We Shall Resist’ a bit of an insidious number, truth be told, just like the whole protest movement itself. Far too jolly a beat is the dubby ‘Death Toll’ which accounts for those sadly no longer with us and acts as a perfect companion piece for the opener, closing a circle from start of the pandemic to now. Don’t let that fact lull you into a false sense of security though; this is far from over. However, Ministry are not done with us yet and continue with a final hyper-kinetic psalm in the form of ‘TV Song #6 (Right Around the Corner Mix)’ battering you into submission as a final assault; “hallelujah” indeed!
I fully admit last album Amerikkkant just didn’t do it for me at the time, perhaps now is the right time for a reappraisal. ‘Moral Hygiene’ by comparison was an instant hit from the very first play and an album that has proven totally addictive. From the artwork to the music and the intelligence on display this one is a return to form and it only took a pandemic of mass idiocy to inspire it. Just after writing the words that “at least they are able to tour the album in the USA next month,” inevitably this has just been delayed till March next year. At least this proves that Ministry are sensible and responsible, something that historically they have not often been accused of!
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply