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Ministry is Out for blood on their new cd |
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Written by Glenn BurnSilver
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 |
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Page 1 of 2 Despite the musical tour-de-force that is industrial rock—that gritty, noisy mix of techno pulse and hardcore metal—the real power of the music is not the volume, but the message.
Music and politics have forever collided head on and through Ministry. Bandleader Al Jourgensen has made it his mission to expose what he believes are the wrongs of the U.S. government and the Bush family in particular. His anger rages uncontained throughout his last two albums, and it is hard to judge the seriousness of Ministry bassist Paul Raven when he says, “We’re used to having the FBI and CIA sniff around.”
But Raven believes Jourgensen’s fury is “a good thing,” noting that his other band, Killing Joke, was born out of punk’s political fury as a means to rally against the Margaret Thatcher-era government.
“It’s really great to do something proactive,” Raven said via cell phone from San Antonio, TX, the second stop of the tour. “Music and politics can’t be separated. You can buy the CD that holds the music, but you can’t really physically hold the music. You can’t contain it and the effect it has … when you can’t get it out of your head.”
Ministry began pioneering their industrial sound, achieved through heavy layering and effects, often with as many as four guitars pounding away at once, in the late 1980s. The band’s breakthrough moment came in 1992 with “Psalm 69” featuring his first tactical assault on George H.W. Bush: “N.W.O.” The hard-driving song features numerous tape loops of Bush repeating “New World Order” and other memorable lines snatched from his speeches.
But without a Bush in the White House, Ministry floundered through several mediocre albums that lacked focus as Jourgensen excised his personal demons, including a strange and sludgy version of Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay.” Then George Walker Bush was elected president and Jourgensen’s burning anger was re-ignited. Both fans and critics alike were ready for the return.
The critically acclaimed, “House of the Molé” began Jourgensen’s personal vendetta against W that has carried over in even greater magnitude on his latest album, “Rio Grande Blood.” Every song on takes a hard-line political stance.
“I see it as one big body of work,” Raven said. “I support the troops, but I hate the war. ‘Gangreen’ holds that position. … I think this country needs a proactive rebellion. Look at the French. They have a history of rebellion; they know how to throw a revolution.”
But considering the scope of Ministry’s hardcore sound, at times it’s like hitting people over the head to make a point.
“What’s wrong with that?” Raven asked in retort. “Do you think it should be more subtle?”
Maybe the message will be lost in the din.
“It seemed like everybody knew the words (last night in Houston),” he replied. “It was all good. … I know that the individuals in this lineup … play hard and believe in what they are doing,” he added. “Come on out. You tell me what you think.”
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