Sunday, 19 August 2007
A suitable epitah. At the end of their 25 year odyessy from apathetic fey disco new wavers to fiercely political, raging metal act, Ministry have finally laid their career to rest with their swansong timed to match the impending expulsion of Bush from office. "The Last Sucker" is a further extension of the canon . Faced with miniscule sales about 2% of their early 90's heyday, Ministry - now comprising of Al Jourgenson and a revolving cast of similarly furious cohorts (including ex-Megadeth man Dave Ellefson) - have produced a final, apocalyptic send off.
"The Last Sucker" is not so much an album as a 50 minute piece of furious vomit disgusted with mankind. In a world where one apathetic vote means as much as the passionately held fury of a participant in this beautiful thing called Democracy, Ministry petition clearly for a complete overhaul of the world. Every song is a barely distinguishable, articulate deconstruction of the rotten mess that is democracy : the world where rich millionaires collaborate with big business and get to rule the little man. Over the rampaging, unstoppable riffola of the album, the sonic palette is enlivened by a variety of speeches about corruption and war and everything that is wrong in the modern world. Or more correctly that what is wrong about the modern world is everything about it.
Withdrawl in disgust is not the same as apathy. And this is most definitely not the sound of apathy. It's the voice of the dispossessed. The sound of the weak and the powerless raging against the fact that the people least suitable to rule are those that actually want to.
Musically, "The Last Sucker" isn't quite as bonecrushingly angry as immediate predecessor "Rio Grande Blood"- some songs follow the heavy doom metal template of the "Filth Pig" era, and there is light and shade instead of just an oppressive assault. What is clear is that Jourgenson sees this as the end days of civilsation (an illthought cameo from Burton C Bell makes this even clearer, as the knucklehead rocker says "I just want my kicks before this shithouse goes up in flames", like some kind of angst-ridden selfpitying Motley Crue). However, there is plenty to recommend this : the opening double whammy of "Let Go" and "Watch Yourself" sum up the air of paranoid fury that only someone who has lived as an exile in their own land can ever understand. As a package, "The Last Sucker" is an exercise in sonic ambience unrivalled by anything from the Aphex Twin : a featureless soundscape of utter fury that creates nothing less than an absolute mood. Unlike the self-digusted/self-obsessed posturing of Kerrang! Favourites, Ministry meanwhile doggedly continue to kick an oblivious accidental president with fierce aplomb.
Overall, "The Last Sucker" is an appropriate end point for the Ministry ride. The material will be relevant and vital as long as there is capitalism, and it is conclusive proof that an artist need not sell-out or weaken over time. If anything, Ministry got better and harder the further they ventured into their career. The final conclusive "End Of Days" is a quarterhour cataclysm of rhetoric that sees the band bow out railing against the injustices of the military industrial complex until their dying breath. "The Last Sucker" is a fine epitah.Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. Powered by AkoComment 1.0 beta 2! |
