2K7 in Review: My Favorite Albums, #6
Hails, fellow warriors. Although the event has passed, I'd like to share something from earlier this month, my preview/retrospective for Ministry's American farewell concert run in Chicago. As it turns out, the hype was really unjustified. The legendary industrial group's final tour amounted to little more than an all-star Ministry tribute band (mainman Al Jourgensen was the only member in place prior to 2005) playing a whole set of songs from their recent records, a tiny selection of old ones with Burton Bell from Fear Factory singing, then Doors and Stones covers for the final encore. It takes balls for an act with a long history to focus on newer material in concert, but when it's the last chance anyone will have to see you? That's just balls. Anyway, time to get back to this list... I'm finally half done!
6. Moonsorrow, V: Hävitetty (Spinefarm)
Frequent readers of this blog are familiar with my affinity for metal with a cultural element. Last January, I posted a rudimentary guide to the tradition, wherein I noted this previously underground phenomenon rising to visibility among the fickle masses. A little over a year later, the global ethnic metal movement shows no sign of abatement, and is now even a rapidly growing trend in the States under the generic Viking/pagan/folk metal banner. Witness the commercial success of this spring's excellent Paganfest USA tour, or last fall's equally well-received headlining tour by genre superstars Finntroll, which has inspired their return this summer. Yet even a connoisseur can get very lost among the labyrinth of outfits claiming inspiration from their ancient ancestors right now; just spend some time clicking around various MySpace friends lists to see what I mean. Eventually the exploration becomes redundant, sending you back to the masters, and of all the groups doing this stuff, the headliners of the first Heathen Crusade continue to offer the most adventurous voyages. Although Moonsorrow has never been short on ambition, 2003's rousing and wistful Kivenkantaja found the Finns taking full advantage of their august reputation by mapping out long, epic compositions that were less about jolly drink-along riffery and more about channeling the triumphant era of pre-Christian pagan Scandinavia. Hävitetty, which translates to "Ravaged," contains only two such frostbitten tracks, each more than 26 minutes long. Both the format and aura of album number five represent Moonsorrow at their atmospheric, eclectic, cinematic best, fusing the gritty, elemental focus of 2005's Verisäkeet with Kivenkantaja's widescreen wonder.
The first, "Jäästä Syntynyt/Varjojen Virta" ("Born of Ice/Stream of Shadows"), is a seamlessly integrated two-fer that commences with a crackling fire and Markus Eurén's ominous synth swells before main songwriter (and Finntroll keyboardist) Henri Sorvali plucks out a clean, mystical guitar refrain. Within minutes, drummer Marko Tervonen and Henri's bassist cousin Ville have added a gauzy rhythm to the musical mist, and four lines of deep Finnish Viking crooning later, we come to a break that likely signals the beginning of the "Varjojen Virta" part. The guitar foreshadowing during the intro announces itself as the song's main motif, a doomy four-note death knell which picks up to a midpaced trudge as Ville lets out his first desperate rasp, screaming to the cold sea for release from terrestrial torment. Moonsorrow moves between these modes, increasing in intensity and volume with clanging bells and choppy seafaring riffs until dropping back to a mellow gait, utilizing accordion/pipe tones for a folky interlude. Before you know it, the quintet has surged over a black metal crest before winding down with a Manowarian bass showcase and a return to the Viking trudge, now augmented with folk melodies and a stout male choir for the big finish. I've only described the half-album I've posted for your perusal, but know that the more evenly-paced second track, "Tuleen Ajettu Maa" ("A Land Driven Into the Fire") is just as powerfully enveloping. Moonsorrow just unleashed another of these awesome behemoths as the title track of their Tulimyrsky EP, and the tune amazingly hit number 2 on the Finnish singles chart, assuring that the Viking lords will continue their reflective talespinning until Finland is cleansed of all Christian and modern influences. What could thrill me more? An encore live appearance in the States? Well, consider me thrilled...
No music videos were made for Moonsorrow's V: Hävitetty, but here is a short official promotional video containing a snippet of "Tuleen Ajettu Maa."
6. Moonsorrow, V: Hävitetty (Spinefarm)Frequent readers of this blog are familiar with my affinity for metal with a cultural element. Last January, I posted a rudimentary guide to the tradition, wherein I noted this previously underground phenomenon rising to visibility among the fickle masses. A little over a year later, the global ethnic metal movement shows no sign of abatement, and is now even a rapidly growing trend in the States under the generic Viking/pagan/folk metal banner. Witness the commercial success of this spring's excellent Paganfest USA tour, or last fall's equally well-received headlining tour by genre superstars Finntroll, which has inspired their return this summer. Yet even a connoisseur can get very lost among the labyrinth of outfits claiming inspiration from their ancient ancestors right now; just spend some time clicking around various MySpace friends lists to see what I mean. Eventually the exploration becomes redundant, sending you back to the masters, and of all the groups doing this stuff, the headliners of the first Heathen Crusade continue to offer the most adventurous voyages. Although Moonsorrow has never been short on ambition, 2003's rousing and wistful Kivenkantaja found the Finns taking full advantage of their august reputation by mapping out long, epic compositions that were less about jolly drink-along riffery and more about channeling the triumphant era of pre-Christian pagan Scandinavia. Hävitetty, which translates to "Ravaged," contains only two such frostbitten tracks, each more than 26 minutes long. Both the format and aura of album number five represent Moonsorrow at their atmospheric, eclectic, cinematic best, fusing the gritty, elemental focus of 2005's Verisäkeet with Kivenkantaja's widescreen wonder.
The first, "Jäästä Syntynyt/Varjojen Virta" ("Born of Ice/Stream of Shadows"), is a seamlessly integrated two-fer that commences with a crackling fire and Markus Eurén's ominous synth swells before main songwriter (and Finntroll keyboardist) Henri Sorvali plucks out a clean, mystical guitar refrain. Within minutes, drummer Marko Tervonen and Henri's bassist cousin Ville have added a gauzy rhythm to the musical mist, and four lines of deep Finnish Viking crooning later, we come to a break that likely signals the beginning of the "Varjojen Virta" part. The guitar foreshadowing during the intro announces itself as the song's main motif, a doomy four-note death knell which picks up to a midpaced trudge as Ville lets out his first desperate rasp, screaming to the cold sea for release from terrestrial torment. Moonsorrow moves between these modes, increasing in intensity and volume with clanging bells and choppy seafaring riffs until dropping back to a mellow gait, utilizing accordion/pipe tones for a folky interlude. Before you know it, the quintet has surged over a black metal crest before winding down with a Manowarian bass showcase and a return to the Viking trudge, now augmented with folk melodies and a stout male choir for the big finish. I've only described the half-album I've posted for your perusal, but know that the more evenly-paced second track, "Tuleen Ajettu Maa" ("A Land Driven Into the Fire") is just as powerfully enveloping. Moonsorrow just unleashed another of these awesome behemoths as the title track of their Tulimyrsky EP, and the tune amazingly hit number 2 on the Finnish singles chart, assuring that the Viking lords will continue their reflective talespinning until Finland is cleansed of all Christian and modern influences. What could thrill me more? An encore live appearance in the States? Well, consider me thrilled...
No music videos were made for Moonsorrow's V: Hävitetty, but here is a short official promotional video containing a snippet of "Tuleen Ajettu Maa."
posted by SoulReaper at 3:22 PM
1 Comments:
So long, cowboy: Jourgensen's Ministry comes to an end
After 27 years, Al Jourgensen is putting Ministry to rest.
Jourgensen, perhaps America’s most legendary name in industrial music, began his career in Chicago. Despite his moving to Texas during the 1990s, Ministry has always been considered a Chicago band. They even released a song in tribute to Jourgensen’s beloved Chicago Blackhawks entitled “Keys to the City” in March. Thus, it’s fitting that the band performed its final U.S. shows at Chicago’s House of Blues on May 8-11.
At first, Ministry churned out new wave dance singles for Wax Trax! Records, the then-fledgling label based out of the Lincoln Avenue post-punk record store of the same name. Over time, the lineup expanded and the sound gradually harshened, Noisy electronics, ominous mechanical and film samples and chugging electric guitars began to dominate.
The dance sound faded as Ministry became a pioneer of the industrial metal movement, which spawned superstars like Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. At the peak of their popularity, Ministry headlined arenas and performed just before headliners The Red Hot Chili Peppers on 1992’s edition of Lollapalooza, their high-octane cyberthrash resulting in a memorably apocalyptic mud fight during the tour’s Tinley Park stop.
Sadly, Jourgensen’s drug and legal problems took their toll. A fickle public relegated Ministry’s meandering experiments to the side as trends like nü-metal and electroclash captured their ears. The band left its longtime home at Warner Bros. for the indie label Sanctuary, and its last three albums have come out via Jourgensen’s own 13th Planet imprint. Although those recent discs have seen Ministry revitalized, with new lineups reviving the energetic style of their early ’90s heyday (with frequent potshots at another President Bush to match), not many have heard them.
Former Society 1 guitarist Sin Quirin is one of those new members. A longtime Ministry fan, he was asked to join the band after touring with Jourgensen’s side project Revolting Cocks in 2006. Participating in last year’s The Last Sucker, the band’s final album of original material (they just released the all-covers Cover Up under the moniker "Ministry and Co-Conspirators," the same name they used for the Blackhawks anthem), as well as the current “C U LaTouR,” he has a hand in helping an act that formed his musical language go out with a bang. Following is an edited version of a conversation with Quirin.
Q: How are the shows going?
A: They’re going great, man. There are a lot of sell-outs, the crowds are pretty crazy. It’s definitely far exceeded what we had previously anticipated. We’re blown away by the crowds. The fans have made this tour very memorable.
Q: Do you get a sense that everyone’s coming out because this is the last chance they’ll have to see Ministry?
A: I think it’s finally hitting people that this is the last tour. I think they sort of want to pay their respects to Ministry now. We do get that feeling live. But, then again, we also get the people who are huge Ministry fans who just want to come out and have a great time.
Q: You also have an all-star lineup for this goodbye tour.
A: I’m quite honored to be playing with these guys. We’ve got Tony Campos on bass from Static-X. He’s an old friend of mine, we came out of the L.A. scene together about 13 or 14 years ago. It’s an honor to play with Tommy Victor from Prong on the other guitar. We’ve got Aaron Rossi on drums, also form Prong. John Bechdel on keyboard, he did the previous Ministry tour and has also been with Prong and Killing Joke, some very influential bands. And of course, having Burton Bell from Fear Factory come out and do guest vocals with us is a blast.
Q: Were you a Ministry fan when Al asked you to join?
A: Yeah, man, a HUGE Ministry fan. It was definitely one of the bands that influenced my style of playing and writing. To now be in the band, it’s a pretty mind-blowing thing for me.
Q: As a fan, how do you view the band’s evolution over time?
A: If you talk to Al, he’ll tell you he really didn’t have much control over the first record. It’s not something that he’s very proud of, but it is what it is, and sometimes when you get involved in this business, especially when you’re brand new, you tend to sign things that you sometimes regret later. But back in the ’80s, it was a different style of music. When you’re an artist, hopefully you evolve. You don’t stay trapped or locked into one particular sound. I know that sometimes that disappoints people because they latch on to something and they always try to hold you to that, but they don’t understand that people change, times change. You don’t feel the same way you did five years ago, ten years ago, so your music is always going to reflect that.
Q: The electronic stuff got pushed to the side as Ministry became more of a metal band. How do you feel about the later ’90s metal albums like Filth Pig and Dark Side of the Spoon?
A: I love those albums, actually. I’m like a Ministry fan as a whole. I like every album they’ve done. My favorites I’d have to say would be The Land of Rape and Honey and Psalm 69. But Rape and Honey to me really fused a lot of different styles together, this sort of post-punk and electronic and a little metal thrown in there. To me, that was one of those albums that really defines that sound.
Q: I always thought Filth Pig got the shaft when it came out. It’s so different, but such a unique-sounding album.
A: I agree. That’s definitely one of my favorites as well, man. It really didn’t get the push or received the way that I thought it should have, because I think it’s a really good album.
Q: It seems that general consensus on the recent Ministry albums has been that they’ve really gone back to the classic sound.
A: Well, I’ll tell you, for The Last Sucker, the one that I was a part of, when Al approached me about writing songs for that record, he initially said, “I’d like to make it even heavier than [previous album] Rio Grande Blood.” So I kept that in mind, but at the same time also realizing that it would be the last Ministry album, I went back into Twitch and The Land of Rape and Honey and even Psalm. If you notice on the songs that I wrote, they tend to have that kind of vibe. I wrote more of the repetitive riffs, a little groovier and a little slower. I wanted to bring those sorts of sounds and elements to the table in the hopes that he would like it, and he did.
Q: To me, Ministry’s legacy is initiating a fusion of man and machine, taking cold technology and making something warmer and more human from it. Do you feel that the bands that followed them maintained that?
A: I haven’t even followed many of the newer bands, to be honest with you, because I haven’t heard anything that’s really caught my ear. Not to say that there’s not anything good out there, I just haven’t been exposed to it. But, you know, the style’s always going to evolve and change. It’s like, who’s really classified as industrial now? Is Ministry now an industrial band because we don’t have enough machine or hammer samples or whatever? It’s tough to categorize that now. I think it’s always going to be changing, people are always going to try to label it. Labeling is not something I’m a huge fan of, that’s why we all have a band name. That’s what should separate everybody.
Q: You’ve got to admit, a lot of “final” tours often turn out to be not so final. How sure can we be that this will be the final Ministry tour?
A: I always say to expect the unexpected and never say never in this business, but having dealt with Al for a few years now, I’m pretty sure this is going to be the last one. He’s been talking about this for about three years now. He feels like he’s said and done everything he wanted to with Ministry. It’s not the end of Al Jourgensen. When you’re an artist, you get to a point where you feel like you’ve reached the end of that sentence, and I can respect that. Being a fan and in the band, I don’t want it to end, but I respect where he’s coming from with it. After we do the four Chicago dates, we’re off for about two weeks and then we go to Europe for two months, and that will be it. There will be a new Revolting Cocks album in September called Sexo Olimpico, and then a RevCo tour. The new RevCo album is phenomenal, man. It’s gone back to more of the electronic/dance/groove thing. I think a lot of older fans are really going to dig it.
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(Ap)praising the canon
Ministry's albums amply reflect the band's many fluctuations. Here's a look at the most notable albums of Ministry's catalog.
Twelve Inch Singles 1981-1984 (1985, Wax Trax!): Forget the roundly hated With Sympathy, Ministry's debut LP of sub-Depeche Mode synth-pop. This comp features all of Jourgensen's edgy early hits for the black-clad dancefloor set, including the signature "Halloween," which Al retired not long after it was featured in a TV commercial for Old Style Light beer.
Try: "(Everyday Is) Halloween," "All Day," "Cold Life"
Twitch (1986, Sire): Already the music has become more aggressive. Although still rooted in electronic dance, mechanical clangs and whirs are integrated into the beats. Jourgensen also introduces a punk-style bellow alongside his pseudo-Brit new wave croon, with his voice distorted by filters.
Try: "Just Like You," "Over the Shoulder," "Where You at Now?/Crash and Burn/Twitch (Version II)"
The Land of Rape and Honey (1988, Sire): The dawn of a new Ministry. Melody is now a thing of the past, with Al delivering tense, angry screams over frightening chunks of static-choked machine punk. Ministry becomes a collective, with bassist and longtime Jourgensen collaborator Paul Barker, drummer Bill Rieflin (now with R.E.M.) and Scottish musician Chris Connelly joining the fold.
Try: "Stigmata," "Destruction," "Flashback"
The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989, Sire/Warner Bros.): Beefing up the rough sonics, Ministry hits its apex with a record that combines Slayer-ish thrash metal riffs with the sound of technology revolting. Jourgensen toys with post-apocalyptic hip-hop on "Test," while Connelly's insane howls on the loping "Cannibal Song" evoke a primal, drug-crazed nightmare.
Try: "Burning Inside," "The Cannibal Song," "Breathe"
Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992, Sire/Warner Bros.): Ministry's biggest seller was also its most "metal" yet, with guitars by thrash-pedigreed Mike Scaccia (Rigor Mortis) and Louis Stivek (M.O.D.). Even on the slower numbers, all traces of post-punk rhythm make way for squared-off headbanging power. Most famous is the drag-racing-themed single "Jesus," with nitro-huffin' vocals by Butthole Surfers madman Gibby Haynes.
Try: "Just One Fix," "Jesus Built My Hotrod," "Scarecrow"
Filth Pig (1996, Warner Bros.): Overall slower and more difficult, the material here was seen at the time as either a backlash against fair-weather fans or a reflection of Jourgensen's growing drug addiction. Still, there's lots to explore in these dense, atmospheric bootgazer dirges, making the underrated Pig Ministry's best candidate for later rediscovery.
Try: "Reload," "Useless," "The Fall"
Animositisomina (2003, Sanctuary): While it suffers from a thin mix and some filler, Barker's swan song with Ministry curiously heralded a nudge toward the band's former vitriol. Even Jourgensen seems nostalgic, mixing his ghostly old singing style with the spiteful bellowing. Improving on 1999's formless The Dark Side of the Spoon (the band's nadir), it set the stage for Ministry's late-career revolution.
Try: "Animosity," "Lockbox," "Leper"
The Last Sucker (2007, 13th Planet): The final disc of Al's trilogy chastising the current Bush administration betters predecessors Houses of the Molé and Rio Grande Blood. Why? Because it sounds the most like Psalm 69-era Ministry, Jourgensen's loudest screed against W's dad. Guests including late Prong bassist Paul Raven, Fear Factory vocalist Burton Bell and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison help send our cowboy into the sunset … to the strains of Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address.
Try: "Watch Yourself," "Death & Destruction," "End of Days (Parts One and Two)"
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