Ministry, HMV Forum, Friday 20th July

July 30th, 2012 by jason

Ministry, back on the road for the first time since a split in 2008, have lost nothing of their intensity and rage. In front of a pretty packed Forum crowd, mainman Al Jourgenson snarled and barked out barbs of political rage and personal angst all night. He looked at his demonic best, almost crouching behind the mike stand (augmented by a tasteful skull at the pointy end) with the spotlights picking out his multi-studded eyebrows. The band cranked out furious guitar, rhythm and keyboard loops underlit by spooky red and sometimes green illumination. The whole show was played out beneath three giant (well, for the Forum anyway) screens depicting videos of images inspired by Jourgenson’s dark mind intercut with performance footage. Melodramatic metal is alive and well…

It was a gig of two halves really. For an hour or so, the heavier, looser and speedier metal of their anti-President Bush back catalogue was plundered, like No W (Houses of the Molé), Senor Peligro (Rio Grande Blood) and Watch Yourself (The Last Sucker). Material from this year’s comeback album, Relapse also got an airing. 99 Percenters was brutal. After the excellent title track from the new album, Al declared that he couldn’t complete the gig sober and asked for a joint. Eventually he was passed one from the crowd, which he lit and then roared into The Last Sucker. Has anyone explained our smoking laws to Mr J?

The band disappeared and returned for an extended encore of their industrial metal masterpieces. This was what the audience, pushing the 40-something envelope, were waiting for. After a stunning, dramatic Psalm 69, Al growls “So, you like the old stuff huh?” N.W.O., a stonking Just One Fix, Thieves and other early 90’s classics duly followed.

So in the end, a good gig. Despite the bass being booted up so much that it often swamped the biting guitar, despite being made to wait for the best stuff, and despite no Stigmata or Jesus Built My Hotrod, the punters went home happy. One shirtless, multi-tattooed bloke immediately plugged into his ipod. I could hear The Land of Rape and Honey pounding around his head on the way out. Some people just can’t get enough.

By Dave Atkinson

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)