​By KRISTOF G.

Just released on Nuclear Blast Records, the sixteenth studio album from industrial pioneers Ministry may not offer anything new, but who the hell cares?!? Especially now that Marilyn Manson is out of the picture and Trent Reznor is still busy making top-shelf Hollywood scores. Ministry’s founding frontman Al Jourgensen is still as pissed off at 65 as he ever has been. (Which is pretty awesome if you ask this writer.)

HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES (yes, a politics meet psychedelics riff on Depeche Mode’s classic) delivers everything you could expect from a Ministry record. Huge, catchy riffs over hypnotic yet heavier-than-thou beats? You got it. Political speech samples to cringe to? Of course. Cathartic, clever lyrics about everything you hate? Damn right. Special guests? It features three very fine ones.

Back to Jourgensen… The previous record’s lineup is back. In addition to Jourgensen’s longtime collaborator John Bechdel (Prong, Killing Joke, Fear Factory) on keys, you have axemen Monte Pittman (Madonna, Prong, Body Count) and Cesar Soto (Pissing Razors), drummer Roy Mayorga (Soulfly, Stone Sour) and bassist Paul D’Amour (Tool). These nine new songs (clocking in at 43 minutes) are a lot of fun, and you shouldn’t sleep on it, especially if you like your industrial music heavy, dancy, and angry.

Let’s dig deep into HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES’s brutal catharsis, song by song:

“B. D.E”
“Goddamn White Trash”

Kicking off this new record is a nice one-two punch of two banging openers. The first, “B. D.E” (that stands for “Big Dick Energy,” by the way) is about toxic masculinity, misogyny, and all those damn incels and other fuckin’ losers out there. Followed by “Goddamn White Trash,” featuring guitarist Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity, Down), the album begins with a great call to action for standing against extremism.

“Just Stop Oil”
“New Religion”

“Just Stop Oil” ups the BPMs – and we can already see a sweating, eco-anxious mosh pit going strong. However, the heaviest track here is “New Religion.” It has a great thrash metal riff à la Slayer, and we’re sure the great late Mike Scaccia would have dug it.

“Aryan Embarrassment”

“Aryan Embarrassment” starts with an eerie (subliminally religious) choir chant before stabbing Nazi fanaticism in the gut with the trusty help of the almighty Jello Biafra. Yes, Biafra, Jourgensen’s old friend and fellow co-conspirator (Lard cofounder and frequent collaborator) is here, and the former Dead Kennedys frontman is great as always. (And they are so right when singing, “We must confront our history.”) With its Killing Joke-esque mood, this one will have fans fist-pumping in unison during concerts. 

“TV Song 1/6 Edition”

YES. You have to love those “TV Songs.” They’ve been a tradition ever since the first one was included as the B-side of the “Jesus Built My Hotrod” single. It is still very enjoyable to hear Jourgensen angrily scream at his TV set (or the internet). Works every single time.

“It’s Not Pretty”

“It’s Not Pretty” is the weirdest tune on the album and one of the very best, too. It starts like a ballad, then, two minutes in, we are taken by surprise by a pretty fast beat before some funky brass and tambourine get sprinkled on top, instantly making your booty shake like there is no tomorrow (true story).

“Cult of Suffering”
“Ricky’s Hand”

Actually, “Cult of Suffering” could be this writer’s favorite track – even if it sounds like a RevCo song. We can thank special guest Eugene Hütz, Ukrainian frontman of the global punk-dub band Gogol Bordello, for this heartfelt lament about his motherland’s woes. Strong stuff. It would have perfectly ended the record if “Ricky’s Hand” wasn’t chosen instead. This fun ’80s-electro tune is perhaps our only complaint, as it feels a bit anti-climactic.

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Ministry is currently touring North America with Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly. We urge you to listen to the record now AND (try to) find tickets for one of the band’s upcoming concerts.

Watch this space for our exclusive interview with Al Jourgensen coming this week. RUE MORGUE talks with Jourgensen about this record, touring with legends Alice Cooper and Gary Numan and working with cinema’s greatest filmmakers (including Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorcese)!