Ministry - Houses of the Molé

There comes a time in every musician’s life when he should recognize that it’s time to bag it. Al Jourgensen, it might be time. Ok, this is what I thought the first time I ran through Houses of the Molé, but today...? Today, I’m kinda feeling it. I’ve been a Ministry fan for more years than I’d care to admit. I adored them in the mid-eighties with their pseudo-Depeche Mode imitation going full-on (“Everyday is Halloween,” etc.), their first forays into industrial, and I think Land of Rape and Honey is one of the most awesome industrial albums ever. Not to mention enjoying RevCo and 1000 Home DJs tremendously in my dank club days (nights). But come on, man. It’s been done…and you should know ‘cause you’re the one who did it. I don’t know though. It would appear that Al Buck Satan Daddy still has a few tricks up his ripped sleeve. While it’s true that you can basically go through this album and equate each song to a previous Ministry song, strangely enough, this doesn’t detract from the album. From the opening Wagnerian perversion straight into the onslaught of industrial guitars and Al’s unmistakable vocals, this is a true Ministry record with all of the trappings. “Waiting” sounds remarkably like “Thieves,” which simply can’t be a bad thing. “Wrong” is a smorgasbord of political commentary, containing the distorted sound byte: “Tonight I have a message for the people of Iraq: Go home and die,” proclaimed by a decidedly demonic George W. Bush. “Warp City” is a twisted story straight out of tabloid/exploit-happy TV. And as always, Al’s sardonic placement of Dubya quotes are distributed liberally. “Worthless” is just a kick-ass tune all around. I’m not sure exactly what sparked the specific direction of Ministry’s political leanings, but certainly since Psalm 69, Jourgensen has made it clear how he feels about society at large and both Bush administrations. I am not sure how much one’s political beliefs would affect one’s enjoyment of this record, but I’m going to go on the assumption that a majority of Ministry fans lean more to the left than the right to begin with. And in that case, Al probably knows his audience pretty well. So if you’re feeling the urge to be angry and relive the glory days of Wax Trax-era industrial music, I’d say go ahead and pick up Houses of the Molé. It’s just in time for the election! [www.animositisomina.com]