Lately, Al Jourgensen has been singing again this same old song: there might only be one album left after HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES before he offers Ministry his retirement. According to interviews, the iconic singer explains that, at 65, he'd now like to do something else musically, or simply that it's time for him to become an "adult". What a strange idea... Before another farewell, not the first but perhaps the last (Uncle Al has dropped his dreadlocks: this must be what "becoming adult" means), the industrial metal band's new album allows us to celebrate once again with this sweet, precious but, it has to be said, sometimes irritatingly fickle lunatic.
Some have lamented Ministry's overly political approach since the 2000s. This is forgetting not only that industrial music has often gone hand in hand with a form of consciousness and protest, but also that Ministry's worst albums are those released between 2007 and 2017, when Jourgensen didn't really know what else to sing other than his drinking stories. The man draws his inspiration from the shortcomings of his society, and is far more nuanced and interesting in his interviews than in his songs: Ministry is there to scratch, if not outright punch. And that's precisely what we enjoy.
HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES follows this line from the outset: B.D.E. (for Big Dick Energy) charges full speed ahead against toxic masculinity and incels. Is it because his targets have the IQ of a Labrador retriever that the facetious Jourgensen teases them without embellishment? True to form, he mixes derision and aggression, Ministry is fun, Ministry goes all out with his big hooves and the delicacy of a cinderblock, pitting his sarcasm against stupidity in an exercise that is as much satire as self-caricature, both potty joke and pamphlet. Naturally, his victims systematically take the bait. Whether it's playful or juvenile (as if one precludes the other), everyone will make up their own mind. Musically, we're hooked by the anthem's effectiveness.
Jourgensen keeps up the energy regained since AmeriKKKant: as the slogans flow, we appreciate the almost youthful liveliness that emanates from the stacking of samples, the collages that give the tracks a psychedelic touch and lift them above the big, in-your-face riffs. This allows Ministry to maintain its links with industrial music, from which it regularly distances itself with thrash and punk influences. However, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES quickly recalls the experience of the previous Moral Hygiene: it's a playful, lively album, often amusing if not surprising. The groove of Goddamn White Trash with Corrosion of Conformity's Pepper Keenan or the heavyweight thrash riffs of New Religion work, but they don't revolutionize Ministry beyond recognition.
If you're looking for a fresher tune, you'll have to turn to the guest contributions. Of course, there's regular Jello Biafra on Aryan Embarrassment, with its blues-rock touches that clash with a sinister atmosphere created by hard-hitting slogans ("Make America Hate Again, alt-right / alt-reich") and the looping repetitiveness of the relentless guitars, but also Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello on Cult of Suffering, with its backing vocals and offbeat coolness, perhaps the album's best moment.
Paradoxically, it's in nostalgic glances back that Ministry gives HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES a whiff of novelty: apart from yet another TV Song, Just Stop Oil occasionally recalls Ministry from the late 80's/early 90's, and Cult of Suffering has discreet new-wave touches. ... but it's above all the cover of Fad Gadget's Ricky's Hand that seems to bury the hatchet for good between Ministry and its synthpop past (rumours of a new version of With Sympathy at the end of their career are rife... why the hell not?).
HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES is true to its tried-and-tested know-how: Ministry mixes industrial loops with thrash riffs, and covers the whole with samples, brass, backing vocals and other gems to create a psychedelic yet bitingly heavy whole, more sophisticated and experimental than lumpy. Jourgensen is both funny and frightening. He spits in the face of the sinister, and in the end only the mad will be mad. The album doesn't upset the author's habits, but it's still a satisfying playful pleasure, and proof that Ministry, after more than forty years, still knows how to have fun. Let's enjoy it while it lasts!
