{"id":20194,"date":"2012-05-27T15:26:06","date_gmt":"2012-05-27T20:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=20194"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:02:07","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:02:07","slug":"ministry-relapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/ministry-relapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministry | Relapse<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Trevor Portz<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"An astounding 31 years in, the Godfathers of industrial metal are back with another shard of noisy anger. Faster and more brutal than just about anything they\u2019ve done before, Relapse<\/em> reflects both the external events shaping our world and the internal struggles (including a near-limb-losing experience) shaping frontman Al Jourgensen.<\/p>\n

Opening track \u201cGhouldiggers,\u201d sets the tone for the album to follow. It starts of slowly with a rant about the current state of music, initially drifting over some subtle noises, but eventually blasting in to full-out industrial fury. The song brings to mind the work of Rob Zombie, but far faster, and with a hyperspeed, shred-worthy solo.<\/p>\n

Revved-up song tempos dominate the album, and do a fine job of keeping everything energetic and effective without drifting into too many spaced-out soundscapes. Minus their first album, Ministry have never shied away from their metal roots, but this is certainly the band at its most headbanging.<\/p>\n

Standout tracks include a cover of S.O.D.\u2019s \u201cUnited Forces,\u201d which is fitting, as S.O.D. covered several Ministry classics on their Live at Budokan<\/em> release. \u201cWeekend Warrior\u201d is a tad silly, but one can\u2019t help but laugh when Jourgensen tells Wendnesday to \u201cf**k itself.\u201d \u201cBloodlust\u201d also stands out, being oddly reminiscent of Strapping Young Lad, melodic screams and all. There\u2019s no doubt Devin Townsend was influenced by Ministry when creating his metal masterpieces, and it\u2019s cool to see the tribute paid-back (whether intentional or not).<\/p>\n

While it seems unlikely Ministry will ever attain the level of success they once tasted with Psalm 69<\/em>, they continue to put out relevant industrial metal that pushes both musical and lyrical limits. It\u2019s also refreshing to see that Jourgensen\u2019s anti-Bush furor, while not unfounded, seems to be hibernating for the moment. Maybe he\u2019s just saving up his energy for this year\u2019s elections, which could foreshadow a Ministry that is angrier and faster still (time for a blastbeat? Perhaps). Either way, this is one relapse to be celebrated.<\/p>\n

Genre: \tIndustrial Metal<\/p>\n

Band: All Jourgensen (v,g,k)
\nMike Scaccia (g)
\nTommy Victor (g)
\nTony Campos (b)
\nCasey Orr (b,k)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tGhouldiggers
\n2.\tDouble Tap
\n3.\tFreeFall
\n4.\tKleptocracy
\n5.\tUnited Forces
\n6.\t99 Percenters
\n7.\tRelapse
\n8.\tWeekend Warrior
\n9.\tGit Up Get Out \u2018n Vote
\n10.\tBloodlust
\n11.\tRelapse (Defibrillator Mix)<\/p>\n

Label: 13th Planet Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.ministrymusic.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.4\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Trevor Portz Staff Writer — An astounding 31 years in, the Godfathers of industrial metal are back with another shard of noisy anger. Faster and more brutal than just about anything they\u2019ve done before, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[5285,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-20194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-industrial-metal","8":"tag-ministry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}