Review Summary: Ministry shows signs of life again...
Throughout the past decade, Ministry struggled to deliver decent material. Although it remained a popular live act, the albums released were average at best. Front man Al Jourgensen gradually steered away from thrash metal, bringing back ‘90s mid-tempo riffs and slow burning epics. It was the better choice due to lackluster material issues. Touring the classic era highlights and celebrating 30th anniversaries for
The Land of the Rape and Honey and
The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste clearly had an impact on the current musical direction. As a result,
Moral Hygiene takes a further step back in time than its predecessors, infusing late ‘80s-type guitars and drumming in the mix. Frankly, this is their strongest LP since
The Last Sucker. For the first time in 15 years, listening to Ministry does not become a drag and it even gets fun occasionally.
The line-up was shifted yet again,
Moral Hygiene being primarily composed by Al and guitarist Cesar Soto. Consequently, there is a stronger emphasis on the industrial metal side. Although the fact that ex-Tool bassist Paul D’Amour joined the group in 2019 attracted some publicity, he is present only on ‘Good Trouble’. The song is a blend of frantic punk and alternative metal grooves, complete with harmonica leads and sing-along choruses. The results are decent, but nothing overwhelming. Meanwhile, things get better with the nuthouse dance party soundtrack, ‘Sabotage Is Sex’ with Jello Biafra on main vocals. As the tune unfolds, alongside the heavy boogie chugs enter tribal-like chants, shouts and paranoid keyboards. The bass plays an important role here, as well as on ‘Believe Me’, where the driving, melodic lines and a steady drum beat lead the songs. Even Jourgensen takes a step back during the verses, letting the instrumental breathe, before ranting about mistrusting politicians. These two cuts are a fine example of the band having fun in the studio and transmitting that to the listeners too. The lyrics are focused on social and political themes, but are less obnoxiously formulated than on previous records.
During the latter half, the album receives a touch of psychedelia, starting with the Indian style percussion and acoustic guitar intro on ‘Broken System’. The sharp riffs and solid bass lines kick in during choruses, offering a nice counterpart to the twangy main theme. Also, ‘Death Toll’ & ‘TV Song #6’ further enhance the wacked out atmosphere. The former is a smooth dub ditty with samples all over it, whereas the latter continues the schizophrenic collage series. This time there are actual song parts there, no matter how spastic they sound. From the remaining tracks, worth noting are ‘Alert Level’, which shares a nice, head banging instrumental, but the lyrical content lacks depth. Same goes for ‘We Shall Resist’, mixing brooding sequencers, bass and spoken vocals with bursts of low riffs in between. Al could have found something more than just repeating the title during choruses. Nevertheless, about two-thirds of
Moral Hygiene is good and there are no tragic moments at all. In essence, the LP brings together most of what Ministry explored during the last three decades. The results are not stellar, but Jourgensen found a balance again between getting his point across and focusing on diversifying the music. The past few projects felt akin to heavy clouds hanging above your head, while the latest affair is considerably more entertaining.
