ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (Psalm 69)
by Ministry

First Released: 14th July 1992

Sire

Review

8/10 So it turns out Ministry is a weird hole in my musical knowledge. An industrial metal band whose most highly regarded output came between the late 80s and early 90s should be right in my wheel house, but I can’t say I’ve ever knowingly listened to them before, so getting to go into this album completely blind was a pretty good start to the day. The band are regarded as pioneers of industrial rock and metal having weirdly begun life as a synth-pop band, and this is their fifth record, considered by some to be their creative peak. The first thing that jumped out about this record is how much drive and energy the band put into the work which, when combined with the gritty, grubby approach to production, is a heady and oppressive mix. There is quite a lot of use of repetition throughout, but it is delivered with a relentlessness and an appreciation for sound design that keeps things feeling fresh. There is also a deft structural approach, in which elements are teased in and faded out, and aspects like lead guitar lines and sound effects used to broaden the musical content of each track. I’m going to be quite interested to look back on some of Ministry’s earlier work, because there are a lot of hallmarks of some great bands scattered across this record, from almost groove metal sequences, reminiscent of Pantera, to those more akin to a Metallica-esque thrash metal style. It would be interesting to see how much Ministry inspired or were inspired by their contemporaries in that regard. One of the closest bands I know of to some of the sounds on here are actually White Zombie and Rob Zombie, though Ministry’s approach has a slightly less poppy melodic bent to the Zombie output. There are some absolutely fantastic chugging riffs and weighty beats all the way across this record, and the fact that the vocal work is blended in as part of the sonic texture of the record, rather than being overly prominent really works for me. Some of the later tracks brought to mind some of the more experimental sound design work that Slipknot employed on their self-titled debut, and that grubby, severe brutality of some of the sound design almost bordered on outsider sound art. I can appreciate that’s not for everyone, but for me, an album that makes you feel something that strong is doing something right. I think the fact that this album so successfully blended such a broad range of heavy music styles into such a coherent package, with such a clear sonic identity is a pretty fantastic achievement, and I’m certainly going to spend some more time with this album in the coming weeks, as well as dipping into their back catalogue for more. A thoroughly enjoyable, if occasionally challenging listen that I’m delighted to have been exposed to.

Track by Track

N.W.O.

This has got some real drive and energy to it. It reminds me a lot of White Zombie. At its core, it’s very repetitive, leaning heavily on the same riff and beat for the duration, but they do break it up here and there and add different bits of instrumentation to give it extra musical and tonal range. The vibe is gritty, with an atmospheric edge to it, but the pulse and impetus of it really drag it forward.

Just One Fix

That is a mean riff. It’s got so much drive and punch too, with the well paced beat driving against it. The vocal effects create a very cool texture that I wasn’t expecting. The rhythmic switch-up in the middle is delicious and the use of samples to build up the atmosphere is really strong. I like the added chugs in the riff in the second half, and they play well with timing by adding slower lead guitar work in. Texturally, this is fantastic, with so much grime and grit to it, but enough clarity in the main riff to keep things constantly driving forward.

TV II

Some great sound design to introduce this one. Sonically, it’s super cool, and I even like the intensity of the vocal work, but musically, it doesn’t do a lot for me. It’s too frantic and focused on speed over actual musical content. The attitude and vibe are cool, and again, I like the sound design elements in the final third, but as a whole, this one just didn’t connect for me.

Hero

But we’re back now. The pace is still in play, but there’s much more musical strength and quality to the riff writing. There are elements of this that remind me of Rammstein, particularly the gang vocals. It’s like a half way house between thrash and industrial, and it’s pretty good stuff. There are cool breakdowns and a continuing intensity. The chopping out of the audio towards the end is so imprecise though, that it’s hard to listen to, which is a massive shame.

Jesus Built My Hotrod

Again, this reminds me of Rob Zombie. In fact, it reminds me a hell of a lot of How To Make A Monster. If anything, it’s a bit more gritty and dirty than Zombie’s work, which is impressive. The pace and power of this is fantastic, and the riffs and guitar soloing hit brilliantly too. It’s perhaps a tiny bit samey, but I’m getting so sucked into the drive of the track that frankly, I couldn’t care less. This is great fun, and I love it.

Scare Crow

The pace changes up now, and we get something that feels a bit more groove and sound design focused. There are still some solid riffs, but they toy with different elements that you can just about pick out from the pulsing noise. The vocal is semi-shrouded and a real part of the mix, rather than being prominent, which I really like. It’s quite a long one, but I think they do enough work to bring in and out different elements and samples that I kind of got swept up in the hypnotic filth and really enjoyed it without ever getting tired of it.

Psalm 69

It’s delightfully puerile and then lays straight into a grandiose gothic church-coded presentation. The sample work is great too. It’s a considered build and then they drop in a quality riff and beat in a very groove-metal style. The different sections of this don’t really quite gel together particularly successfully for me, which is a shame, because I really like them both, but I would probably prefer them developed into two separate songs. Assessed separately, they’re both fantastic, but miss the mark a little bit when stitched together.

Corrosion

Cool sound design work again to kick this off, and then the groove is really powerful and interesting. The roaming, rumbling nature of it is super cool, and the way it builds the sound design elements around it is fantastic. I’m not completely sold on the machine gun bass drum samples, but I guess this was 1992, so is partly down to hardware limitations. It’s super grimy and hypnotic in its general feel and is almost overwhelmingly full in its production. I really dig it though as a piece of aggressive and intense sonic art. Disgustingly lovely.

Grace

It’s another interesting sound design piece, and the band have more or less thrown away the idea of typical song structure at this point in favour of building intense, grimy and oppressive sound collages. I tell you what, they’re bloody good at it though, and this is super in-your-face and confrontational. I bet some people would fucking hate this, but to me, something that can evoke such strong reactions is worthy art. It’s making me feel very uncomfortable and itchy under the skin, but I’m absolutely here for it. Crank this up on your headphones and try to stay sane. Wonderful.

ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (Psalm 69) by Ministry