Ministry – “AmeriKKKant”
15th March 2018 0 By Gavin GriffithsBack in 2013, MINISTRY released their thirteenth studio album āFrom Beer To Eternityā, and unlucky as the number is, the album was in turn tainted; bittersweet with lingering questions over the band’s future. Prior to its release, guitarist Mike Scaccia suffered heart failure on stage at a show in Texas the previous December, ultimately leading to his premature deathā¦he was posthumously credited on the album but, no one knew what would become of Ministry. Front-man Al Jourgensen stated at the time that he didnāt know if Ministry could continue; heād just lost a friend, he was mourning and he didnāt want to think about music and everything was put on hold. Time however can heal the deepest of wounds and, as we fast forward five years to the present day, we find Ministry back with album number 14; āAmeriKKKantāā¦lets checKKK it out shall we?
The album opens up with āI Know Wordsā and we can immediately guess where this is going before the track even startsā¦with a distorted, trance-like sound bite of Donald Trump saying āWe Will Make America Great Againāā¦itās like a 90ās happy hardcore rave intro, such is itās tone, at least it would be if it wasnāt for the traditional sounding middle-eastern instrumentation layered within the electronic samples. The word war comes up a lot and the droning tone of Trumps voice is clearly a direct stab at the Presidentās integrity and the whole track is essentially a middle finger to the commander-in-chief. Thereās little else to the track in all honesty, itās purely satirical. Transitioning then directly into āTwilight Zoneā weāre met with heavier percussion but the general tone remains the same; more sound bites and quotes from politicians and news reports etc allowing for continuity, before we finally hear some actual vocals from Jourgensenā¦itās a half track at best, and the industrial tones are if anything, lackluster and plodding, the album still hasnāt really gotten going.
āTV 5/4 Chanā at under a minute is essentially pointless here, with gun shots, more distortion, more quotes and sound bites highlighting social disparity within race and class, but as factual and important as the topic is, it doesnāt make this 49 second snippet relevant. Highlighting such issues deserves something more and again, this was a waste of time. Musically thereās little on offer in general here to really comment on to be quite frankā¦āWeāre Tired Of Itā has some decent, thrash-inspired riffs you can bag your head to, while āWargasmā, despite its name which itself is one of few album highlights, does utilize some decent hooks withinĀ its chorus. āAntifaā is pretty self-explanatory; steeped in far-left views on socialism and communism but I doubt itās going to incite any riots any time soon, before āGame Overā takes another jab at Trumpā¦the highlight of the track being the retro video-game sample at the very end which, says a lot really. Ministry are a big name in industrial metal, and Ā Jourgensen has never held back from anything, so the state of the world today, politically, coupled with the five-year wait for new material left SO much room for potential, this album could have been blistering, it could have been damning, it could have been GOODā¦alas, it was none of those things. A collection of samples and ideas that donāt even cut it as propaganda, it really is just a mess of an album. I AmeriKKKant listen to this, MinisTRY harder in future.
Score: 1/10
Track List:
- “I Know Words”
- Ā “Twilight Zone”
- Ā “Victims Of A Clown”
- Ā “TV 5/4 Chan”
- Ā “We’re Tired Of It”
- Ā “Wargasm”
- Ā “Antifa”
- Ā “Game Over”
- Ā “AmeriKKKa”
Record Label:
Nuclear Blast
Release Date:
March 9th
For All Things Ministry Head click HERE & to purchase the album, click HERE
About the author
Gavin Griffiths AKA GavTheGothicChav 31 Based In South Wales Favourite Bands: HIM, The 69 Eyes, Paradise Lost, CKY, Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Type-O-Negative, Turbonegro, Depeche Mode... Enjoys: Pizza, Jack Daniel's, Comedy Roasts, WWE, Horror Movies, Sloths, Panda's, Eurovision Dislikes: The Concept Of Being "Offended", Hype, Instrumental Tracks, Interludes, Overly Long Tracks