Psalm of the industrial revolution (Psalm 69 - Ministry)

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Product:	Psalm 69 - Ministry
Date:	07/03/01 (15 review reads)
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Advantages: Experimental music

Disadvantages: don't get the credit they deserve

When people think of the term "industrial", the only band people really know is nine inch nails. Though NIN and their leader Trent Reznor were one of the leaders of the industrial rock movement of the early 90s, he doesn't take all the credit for bringing industrial into the mainstream. Reznor always credited groups like Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire, Front 242, Meat Beat Manifesto, and Pop Will Eat Itself as some of the pioneers for industrial music. One band Reznor always credited as an influence and force was the band Ministry.

Since 1981, Ministry was led by singer Al Jourgensen and later became a partnership with bassist Paul Barker. Since the early 80s, Ministry would put out influential records that would help bridge the genre of hard rock with heavy drum machine beats and heavy synthesizers. With their 1992 effort "Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and Suck Eggs", Ministry would show how powerful they were as a musical force.

"Psalm 69" is an album full of metal guitar crunches, powerful beats, and heavy synthesizer samples. The album starts off with the heavy "N.W.O. (New World Order)" that features fast-pumping drum beats from Bill Rieflin, crunching guitars from Mike Scaccia and Louis Svitek, pounding bass from Paul Barker, and distorted vocals from Al Jourgensen. Another excellent industrial rock track is the loud "Just One Fix" that features heavy drums, loud guitars, and a lot of screaming that'll bang your head really hard.

Other tracks include the speed-metal power of "TV II" along with loud guitar metal of "Hero" which stops at times that'll make you think your CD is starting to scratch. "Scarecrow" is a slow but excellent eight-minute track that features screaming guitars, slow but powerful drums, and mean synthesizer hooks. The title track is another brilliant blast of industrial rock that features speedy guitars and powerful drum ho
oks. "Jesus Built My Hotrod" is another brilliant fast-pumping rock track that features Butthole Surfer singer Gibby Haynes on vocals singing in a waa waa way. "Corrosion" and "Grace" are the two final tracks that features that full-on assault that has all that power that Ministry brought in with loud drums and noisy guitars.

"Psalm 69" would become another successful effort from Ministry. The band would prove that they were one of the best industrial rock bands in the world. After "Psalm 69", things wouldn't be the same. Their two latter efforts, 1995's "Filth Pig" and 1999's "Dark Side of the Spoon" were all unappreciated efforts that showed that Ministry was losing their edge. For people who would want to pick up a good hard rocking album that's loud, I'd pick up this record by Ministry. It's loud as hell.

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