### Ministry: The last sucker

#### 14/08/07 || Euthanatos

Ministry, or Al Jourgensen rather, is probably the godfather of industrial rock/metal. I for one, never being that much into industrial music, seriously liked “Psalm 69”. Obviously a lot of crap has been released in between that album and Jourgensen’s latest trilogy, according to him Ministry’s final moments, which consists of “Houses of the Molé”, “Rio Grande Blood” and now, “The Last Sucker”. I don’t know what it was, if kicking Paul Barker suddenly enlightened Al, but fact of the matter is, these three albums are probably the best thing Ministry has released since the “Psalm 69”.

Focusing on the Bush administration, and Jourgensen’s total disregard for America’s Commander-in-Chief, the music spewed forth here is just as venomous and heavy as the one featured in “Houses of the Molé” and “Rio Grande Blood”. “Let’s Go” is a perfect starter, kicking things off in real industrial metal fashion, a great rocker to get things going. And that’s an extremely important “plus” for Ministry in these last few albums; even though industrial is truly the band’s genre, the sound oddly enough sounds more organic than ever, particularly on the title-track, which has a cool guitar sound. This organic sound may be also due to the drums, courtesy of none other than Joey Jordison of Slipknot fame.

“No Glory” totally reminds me of “N.W.O.”, with its death metal vibe, filled with effect-ridden vocals and insane drums. Another killer track, much in the same vibe, is “Roadhouse Blues”. Yes, this is that The Doors classic, completely revamped and insane, featuring vocals by Casey Chaos (from Amen). Finally, the megalomaniacal “End of Days” parts I and II give literal end to Ministry’s legacy. And it summons well all Ministry’s catalog, made of riffs, mayhem and political criticism.

I think this is a fitting swan song for this entity of industrial music. Bravo.

The cover: Usual Ministry stuff. Half-assed.

7 hotrods built by Jesus out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: 13th Planet Records
- Website: www.ministrymusic.org
- Band
- Al Jourgensen: vocals, guitars, keyboards, everything
- Thomas M. Victor: guitars, bass, backing vocals
- Paul Raven: bass, guitars
- Sin Quirin: guitars, bass
- Joey Jordison: drums
- John Bechdel: keyboards

- Tracklist
- 01. Let’s Go
- 02. Watch Yourself
- 03. Life Is Good
- 04. The Dick Song
- 05. The Last Sucker
- 06. No Glory
- 07. Death and Destruction
- 08. Roadhouse Blues
- 09. Die in a Crash
- 10. End of Days Part One
- 11. End of Days Part Two