Released by: Ministry
Release Date: March 9, 2018
Genre: Industrial Metal
Links: : https://www.facebook.com/WeAreMinistry/
Lineup:
Al Jourgensen, guitars, vox
John Bechdel, keyboards
Sin Quirin, guitars
Tony Campos, bass
Cesar Soto, guitars
Derek Abrams, drums
DJ Swamp, turntables
Tracklist:
1. I Know Words
2. Twilight Zone
3. Victims Of A Clown
4. TV 5/4 Chan
5. We’re Tired Of It
6. Wargasm
7. Antifa
8. Game Over
9. Amerikkka
Forming in 1981, Ministry has been setting the tone as Industrial metal pioneers for the last 37 years, and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In 2008 Jourgenson broke up the band saying he would never reform it, but in 2011 he did just that, and now Al Jourgensen and Ministry have released three albums since reforming, including the newest and fourteenth studio album on March 9th, ‘Amerikkkant’. And in this album, it’s all about the state of our country, the president, and politics. And while there is plenty of music nowadays about politics, this album does it more bluntly than most. Jourgensen doesn’t like what he sees going on in the country today, and he’s about to let you know what he thinks. This record is nothing more than Al Jourgensen extending a giant middle finger to Mr. Trump, and if that offends you, you might just want to stop reading this now. As for us, we were ready to get to it, let’s see what’s got Al so pissed off these days!
Does Al Jourgensen like the president? It is abundantly clear by this album, he does not. And when it comes to political music or politically themed albums, ‘Amerikkkant’ will be at or near the top as some of the most critiqued albums ever. Love him or hate him, Jourgensen sets the tone very early with ‘I know the words’, in which he pokes fun at the president and uses his own words against him. This would be more considered an intro that’s three minutes long rather than a song. It’s filled with slowed down sound bites of Trump himself. The next song ‘Twilight Zone’ has this thunderous drum intro before the heavy guitar riffs kick in. This song is what Al thought about when he woke the day after the election, and realized the worst had happened, asking how stupid are the people of this country? Feeling ill and nauseous, like a lot of people did the day after. Figuring we must have traveled to some other dimension and it couldn’t be real. Next, you can cue the circus-like music for the next tune ‘Victims Of A Clown’. This song is a heavy kick ass song, that completely bashes Trump, again using his own conspiracies against him. “Angry Man, Septic Tank, Orange, Toxic Lies” all the lyrics describing the feelings Jourgensen has for Trump.
‘TV 5/4 Chan’ has these gunshot sounds mixed with channel surfing, in what is a short sound bite interlude between the heavier songs. Filled with messages from things like Black Lives Matter and other organizations that are the most controversial to some people. The next song ‘We’re Tired Of It’ is a fast, furious and pounding song that we all have come to expect from Ministry. ‘Wargasm’ is a killer song, and it has an accompanying lyric video for it from Nuclear Blast. Sex and power are what they all want, this is the people’s war. ‘Antifa’ comes next, the first single and video to be released from the album, and this seems to be the most hated song on here if you look into social media. The lyrics scream “We are not snowflakes, we are Antifa”. Which, from reading online, seems to piss off only the people that created the term snowflake to be derogatory in some way. ‘Game Over’ and ‘Amerikkka’ finish this album off in the same manner that the rest of it has gone. With lyrics coming from a politically dark theme throughout. The lyrics aren’t as much a bummer as some might think, as it’s too close to the reality we live in today.
If you can sidestep the political message in the lyrics, this is everything you would expect from a Ministry album. Besides the fact that it’s a 48-minute political rant, the music is amazing and very well done. In the end, it’s a hard and heavy tale of the direction Al sees the country moving in, and who he thinks is responsible for it. And whether you love it or hate it, this Ministry album rocks from start to finish. We guess Ministry will win over some new fans due to the message it carries, but in the same fashion, they could lose some of that same thought. Some are saying Jourgensen was taking advantage of the feelings a lot of people have towards Trump to grab some quick cash, but we don’t know if it would be worth losing die-hard fans over this. Ministry hasn’t had a lot of mainstream success since ‘The Land Of Rape And Honey’, ‘The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste’ and ‘Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs’. Only time will tell what side this one will fall on. And the shame of it is, more people will talk about this album for its politically charged content than it’s musical content, which is very good throughout.
This album will be drawn as if it were political lines in the sand, those on one side will love it for its message, and those on the other will hate it for the same reasons. One thing seems safe to say, Ministry and Al Jourgensen, don’t seem to care what side you’re on, they’re going to tell you what they think. Grab a copy of the album now, you can get it here http://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/products/sound/cd/cd/ministry-amerikkkant.html . They’re out on the road supporting this album, Chelsea Wolf is the opening act and this is a show you don’t want to miss if it comes to your town. Make sure you get out and support the band. We’ll be at the show in Buffalo next month, and we can’t wait to see this one.
Written by: Pam and Mark Schaff
Ratings: 9/10
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