Ministry - In case You Didn't Feel Like Watching

MINISTRY

In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Watching

Ministry, Chicago’s foremost Industrial band, puts on a spectacular live show for those brave souls who dare to attend. For those who don’t, there is Ministry: In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up. 

This 58-minute, eight song video tries to capture the power, intensity and catharsis of a Ministry concert and succeeds to large extent. Filmed during the ’89-’90 Ministry tour, it shows Alain (Alien?) Jourgensen and the guys in all of their horror, irony and glory. 

It begins with twin burning censers on either side of a chain link fence which separates the band from the audience, as they flicker to the rhythmic pulsations of two sets of drums. With a blinding burst of light, the drums explode full force into “Breathe” from The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste album.  Amid the slam dancing and stage diving, we see Al with the cowboy hat he has been prone to wearing, telling us “This is the world… It’s not working!”

The song is immediately followed by two killers off The Land Of Rape And Honey album: “The Missing” (about the M.I.A.’s fate in Vietnam) and “Diety” (about faith in God). These two are straightforward slammers, which burst into intensity with Al’s grinding vocals. 

Things chance pace a bit as Christ Connelly takes over the vocals and they launch into the hypnotic groove of “So What”. Now the film switches from the straightforward concert footage of the first three songs, into the dream-like quality it retains for the rest of the tape. 

With Jourgensen back on vocals, Ministry pounds out the single “Burning Inside”. During this song we see fire-eaters and plenty of burning bodies on stage and in the audience. We also get to meet the poor winner of “The Wheel Of Flame” game as he is strapped to a giant rotating wheel which is set on fire. 

Next up, Nivek Ogre (of Skinny Puppy) leads the voices for “Thieves”, the most visually striking of the performances. As “Thieves” switches back and forth from a funky groove to and acidic thrash fest, we see people climbing to the top of the chain link fence and diving head first, into the undulating crowd.

The show closing favorite follows: “Stigmata” . Al is back on the mic declaring: “You’ve run out of lies!” By the end of the song he has managed to insult every major religion, race, political affiliation and person in the crowd, but they love it. When the group exists the stage, everyone is screaming for more. 

After a brief pause, a lone figure appears on stage. It is Jello Biafra  (of Dead Kennedys) and he proceeds to recite his own version of the pledge of allegiance ending with the chant: “Burn, Baby, Burn!”

Ministry returns to the stage performing their Vietnam protest “Land Of Rape And Honey”. The vocals are shared by Alain and Ogre, while Jello does the political saluting, dancing and finger sucking.

The spectacle ends with a flag burning bang (literally) and everyone in the audience is physically and emotionally drained. And so is the viewer.

This video is an all-out attack on the senses. the images, music and messages expressed here may stay in your mind for a long time. 

The only failure of the video is that it’s too short. It would have been much better if it was as long as they actual concert. But then again, I guess it is the quality, not the quantity that counts.

This tape is not for everyone. It’s definitely not for the members of the conservative party nor the Moral Majority.  Just a warning in case you didn’t feel like watching. 

Pigface - Gub

PIGFACE - GUB

Can a final product be as good as its component parts? In the case of Pigface the answer, unfortunately, is no. Pigface is a supergroup made up of assorted members of various Industrial groups: Martin Atkins (Killing Joke & Ministry), William Rieflin (Ministry & Revolting Cocks), En Esch (KMFDM), Paul Barker (Ministry & Lead Into Gold), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks & Ministry), Ogre (Skinny Puppy), William Tucker (Ministry & KMFDM), David Yow (The Jesus Lizard & Flipper), Matt Schultz (KMFDM) and produced by Steve Albini (Big Black). A veritable plethora of Industrial giants, right? Can’t be to shabby, right? Uh…not quite. 

Don’t get me wrong, (boy, am I fond of that saying!), the album is pretty good, especially if you are really into percussion. It is a drum lover’s dream. Both Martin Atkins and William Rieflin are two of the best drummers in existence. And they prove it very well on GUB. This is their album. 

GUB is replete with pounding beats and atmospheric percussion. It is a highly experimental album in that it uses many new and unconventional instruments such as a Tapeworm, A.T.G., oscillators, cameras, loops, tape recorders, intrusions, and Howard Johnsons (?!?). The vocals provided by Ogre, Reznor, Esch, Connelly, Barker and Yow are equally challenging and creative.

The problem with this album, as I see it, is that it seems that Pigface has tried a bit too hard to be “different” . Because of this, they have released an album so inaccessible as to make it very hard to listen to. So hard in fact, that when I first bought the tape down at Vintage Vinyl in Fords (major plug!), I totally hated it. (Remember that, Joe?) I thought it was the most self indulgent, unrhythmic piece of crap I ever heard. But after a couple of listens to it, I have to come to really like it… nay, LOVE IT. 

But that is exactly my point. I only came to love this record after forcing myself to listen to it a few times. Many people won’t even give this album a chance after hearing the first two songs: “Tapeworm” and “Bushmaster”. This is a shame, but it can be very understandable given the material at hand. Not many people have the patience that is required to enjoy Pigface . But Pigface  wouldn’t care. They would probably say: “Fuck them!” And I would agree. 

This album is fucking brilliant. Choice cuts on GUB are “Tailor Made”, “Little Sisters”, “Tapeworm”, and most definitely “Suck”, which I first heard live at the Nine Inch Nails show at The Academy. Trent Reznor’s howling: ‘How does it feel? Suck! Suck! Suck!” was beyond compare. or so I thought until I saw Ogre’s rendition at the Pigface concert last Sunday night at City Gardens. Boy, he blew me away! As much as I love Trent “When is my next album coming out?” Reznor, I think Ogre should have sung the album version too instead. 

Still, though I love GUB by Pigface, I also see it as a missed opportunity , given the musical background of everyone involved. It would have been cool had they explored the dancier side of Industrial music that they all share. I can imagine how great a big club song would have sounded on this album. 

Alas, I will not complain too much, lest I incur the wrath of some Industrial god or another. Hey, speaking of gods, where the hell was Alain “I’m involved with every group” Jourgensen during the Pigface recording sessions? Hmm. Verrrrry Strange! Everyone probably got sick of his meddling and decided to leave him at home. 

Anyway, if you are a percussion fanatic or just plain looking for a few new thrills, buy GUB  by Pigface, out it on an auto-restart Walkman, press play and have someone you trust tie you down to a chair.  I guarantee you will eventually love it. I did and I still have the rope burns to prove it!

Sisters Of Mercy - Vision Thing

SISTERS OF MERCY

Vision Thing

Remember the Sisters of Mercy? Well, they are sort of back with the long awaited follow up to 1987’s Floodland album, with their new disc Vision Thing. I say “sort of” because singer/songwriter Andrew Eldritch has once again disposed of the other members of The Sisters of Mercy and brought together a completely different line up of Sisters. The new line up consists of Tim Bricheno and Andrew Bruhn on guitars and Tony James (of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik fame) on bass. Doktor Avalanche remains as the source of the drums. 

Another reason I say “sort of” is that the goth sound they have cultivated on their previous two albums is gone , replaced by their new Rawk N Roll, Dude sound. This is very depressing.

One thing I must say about the album is that it was refreshing to hear an album with “strong” language without a single Parental Advisory sticker on it. It was thrilling in that respect!

The music itself borders on the “pop metal teens go out for a few beers and chase skirts” brand of rock and roll. There are three notable exceptions: 1) the first single “More” (of course, why else would it be a single?), 2) the masterful “Detonation Boulevard”, and 3) the haunting “Ribbons”. 

What happened to the atmospheric music and profound lyrics which made Sisters of Mercy an icon in the gothic/industrial music scene. Instead, they expect us to settle for lyrics such as these from “Doctor Jeep”:

“Everybody shouts on I Love Lucy/ PeeWee reads the evening news/ A pre-owned song or a second hand uzi/ Everybody’s got a job to lose/ Here comes the golden oldies/ Here comes the Hizbollah/ Business men from South Miami/ Humming AOR.”

Come on! Even Debbie Gibson could do better than that!

Anyway, on the upside of things, I must say that the cover art is great and the three aforementioned songs would make it worth the price of the tape for Sister’s fans. Otherwise Vision Thing is the death of a great band!

12 Industrial Greats

12 INDUSTRIAL GREATS

Well, well, well. Another semester has come and gone. Big deal. It wasn’t such a bad semester, though. I had a couple of good chucks here and there. It wasn’t too boring. The only thing I hated about this semester was all the damn term papers I had to do. (As a matter of fact, i should be writing my Anthropology term paper right now. It’s due tomorrow. Ah, fuck it!) It seems that teachers don’t realize, or care, that we have to do term papers for every class, not just theirs! So, that said, onward with humble column. 

Being that this is the last issue of the semester, I’ve decided to list 12 records which I feel are among the best in this little sphere called “Earth”. I list them for my own personal satisfaction, not to try to convince anyone to go out and listen to them or anything. I’m just voicing my opinion. If you don’t like it… Kiss Off! PS, these are not in any particular order.

1) Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails- The best debut album ever! It is sheer perfection. And to think it was written, recorded and produced by one man: Trent Reznor. He also played all the instruments. What a god! Best tracks: “That’s What I Get” and “Terrible Lie”.

2) Confessions Of A Knife - My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult- Thanks to Jean Guzzi, I have a new favorite band. These guys (and gals) have redefined industrial dance music by juxtaposing hot dance grooves with macabre pseudo-Satanist lyrics and samples. Best tracks: “Kooler Than Jesus” and “A Daisy Chain For Satan”. A new album is due out this summer and they’ll be playing City Gardens in July.

3) Naive - KMFDM- K.M.F.D.M., whose name is rumored to stand for Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode, but in reality is an acronym for a German phrase which roughly translates to “No pity for the majority”, has finally hit the big time with their latest recording. This album has spawned a #1 dance hit which was on the Billboard charts for six weeks. The song is the 12 inch single for “Naive” (remixed by Thrill Kill Kult), which is more of a pop song than they have ever made. Best tracks: “Die Now-Live Later” and “Liebeslied”.  This past tour is supposed to be their last, according to leader Sasha Konietzko, because he got pissed that they were forced to perform before their supposed opening act, Pigface. Let’s wait and see…

4) ViVi Sect VI - Skinny Puppy- This is Skinny Puppy’s undisputed masterpiece. Every song is perfect, along with its running anti vivisection theme. Best tracks: “VX Gas Attack” and “Testure”. 

5) Land Of Rape And Honey - Ministry- Another strongly themed album, this one deals with the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a shellshocked veteran. It is an important album in that it marks Ministry’s switch from dance music to hard-edged pseudo-metal. Best tracks: “Stigmata” and “Flashback”. Look for a new single and album in the summer.

6) Gashed Senses And Crossfire - Frontline Assembly- The last true collaboration between Bill Leeb and Michael Balch, it is their finest and tightest album. The cover itself is worth the price! Best tracks: “Digital Tension Dementia” and “Shutdown”. 

7) Front By Front - Front 242- I’m speechless when it comes to this album. It was the first I ever heard from them, thanks to Denise and Suzi. It’s great music for a walk into oblivion. Best tracks: “Headhunter” and “Until Death (Us Do Part)”. 

8) Beers, Steers and Queers - Revolting Cocks- Any album with that title and an industrial remake of Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” can’t be all that bad. As a matter of fact, it is excellent! This is an all-star collaboration. Best tracks: “Stainless Steel Providers” and “Get Down”. 

9) 99% - Meat Beat Manifesto- Their major label debut! The best Acid House/ Industrial album to be churned out in hours. Some may say the album is too “House Music” for their taste, but I think it’s just fine. Best tracks: “Dogstar Man/Helter Skelter” and “Psyche Out”.

10) Gub - Pigface- Anyone who read my last review knows why I love this album. By the way, the last line of that review should have read “And I still have the rope burns to prove it” not “tape burns”. Best tracks: “Suck” and “Tapeworm”. PS. These guys are great live!

The next two aren’t really albums, but 12 inch singles. They are sort of one hit wonders who put out an experimental single and then are never heard from again.  I hope they release full albums some day. I’d buy!

11) “The Bog” - BiGod20- The most atmospheric industrial song I’ve ever heard without it being slow. The vocals sound mysteriously like the lead singer of Front 242. Hmm… I wonder if… Nah! Sample lyric: “I’ll take you down there. I’ll take you. Back into the bog, Back into the bog.”

12) “Hallucination Generation” - Gruesome Twosome- My favorite song! Everything about this song is amazing. It is scary. It is atmospheric. It is danceable. If I ever go into music, this is the kind I’d love to make. Sample lyric: “When you stink to the bones, there’s a connection. You don’t need doctors to tell you you’re screwed. Your dead head needs resurrection and your feet try to shuffle you through. Shake it, Baby. Break it, Baby…”

Well, those are them: my faves. I hope everyone enjoys their summer. I won’t. I will be stuck in summer session Biology 1000 sect 01. I’ll probably be forced to perform a few vivisections of something. Help me!

Congratulations to all who graduate this year. You lucky bastards! Everyone else: see you next fall at The Factory. 

Frontline Assembly - Tactical Neural Implant

FACTORY

Frontline Assembly

Tactical Neural Implant

by David Zayas, A&E Editor

I arrive at Sector VI at 0400 hours and survey the damage. The edifices burn in an amber light which illuminates the darkness, revealing the wreckage of the Mindphaser. I check the nitrous oxide level of the Sector and find that it is dangerously high. I grab my toolbox and flush myself with oxygen before stepping out of my vehicle, so that I won’t succumb to the pleasant, yet lethal effects of the gas. 

Striding over to the wreck, I am stopped by the arriving Enforcer Troops. These rusty security droids always seem to arrive instantly to any incident. They set their search lights upon me, as well as their Hydro-Carbonizing Beams. 

“Desist and identify,” one speaks in a razor-like voice.

“I am Bio-Mechanic 347,” I begin. “I am here for retrieval and repair of possible organic material.”

Flashing my badge, I add: “I have priority access. Remove the beam.”

The droid does as its told and approaches closer. I can hear the soft clicks and whirs as the droid examines my badge. I also begin to feel my head getting lighter and realize that I need a bit more oxygen.

The droid takes a painful long time in examining my badge. By the time it is retuned, my extremities have become numb and my thoughts muddled. I struggle to regain control of my arms, as I reach for my Oxy/Gen Inhaler. 

After flushing myself with Oxy/Gen, I ask the droid for details regarding the incident. As my head clears, it begins to understand the information the robot imparts. It seems two members of the Frontline Assembly broke in to the Neural Control Headquarters and tried to steal the Mindphaser. They were quite successful until they ran into the N.C.H. Security System. The high-tech new system prevented them from escaping, but in the process it destroyed the Mindphaser. I was to search for survivors, heal them and prepare them for “interrogation” by the droids. 

Thanking the droid for the data and the needless reminder of my duties, I turn once again to the wreckage. From behind me, the droid’s shrill razor-voice warns: “Remember Bio-Mechanic 347, you are only to deal wth organic material. Do not approach anything that does not pertain to your realm. Leave the inorganic to us.”

I chuckle at the droid’s reference to The Mark X-1 16 Company’s logo and switch on my infra-red scanner. I take another hit of Oxy/Gen and I search the hulking piece of metal. I instantly detect a blue humanoid shape within the Mindphaser, but there is nothing I can do for it. On the ground on the other side of the machine, I see a fading red shape. I run over, preparing my Bio-Resuscitation system. 

Kneeling down by the prone man, I prop my toolbox by his head and I flush him with Oxy/Gen. His eyes flutter open and he regards me with a glassy look. I notice that the lower portion of his body has suffered severe physical trauma, perhaps even beyond repair. He slowly raises his hand and removes the inhaler. 

“Are you God?” he speaks.

“Yes,” I reply. “What is your name?”

“Bill… Leeb,” he says. “Wheres Rhys?”

“He’s with me,” I say and I inject him with 15cc of Styrogen to stabilize his cardio-muscular rhythm. “Why did you take the Mindphaser?”

“Don’t bring me back,” he screams. “Why are you taking me back.”

“They need you back there,” I say and take a long inhalation of the Oxy/Gen. “You must answer some questions. Like: What was your purpose in taking the Mindphaser?”

I flush him with Oxy/Gen again and he stops struggling. His heart rate goes down and I begin to scan his body for the perfect place top begin my repairs.

“I have to get the Tactical Neural Implant into the people,” he says. “The Mindphaser can help me get the implant to everyone. The music will unlock the minds of the people and let them think for themselves again.”

Another rebel nut, I think. I see that his intestines are mostly sticking out of his abdomen I begin my repairs. He’s trying to save a world beyond help. Why even bother?

“I need your help,” he says, grasping at my shoulder. “I still have the implant in my haversack. Please take it and listen to it.”

“I don’t listen to music,” I state and continue to work on his stomach. I use an entire canister of Blu-16 on the wound before I cauterize it. I am glad that he has been exposed to so much Nitrous Oxide because it saves me some anesthetic. I just wish he would be quiet. I try to put the Oxy/Gen inhaler on him, but he bats it away.

“That’s the problem,” he says, his eyes pleading. “No one listens anymore. We just do what Mark X-1 16 commands. Don’t you want to be free? The music is good. We blend the ancient styles of Funk and Hip-Hop with the machine sounds to which everyone is accustomed. The music numbs your ears with industrial dance sounds, so that the implant can enter your central nervous system and unlock the gates The Mark X-1 16 Company has imposed on you. Once you’re free, make copies and pass them around. Please. You’re human, don’t forget that. We have free wills.”

I cannot take anymore of his babbling. He is causing a rage within me that I cannot contain. I begin to feel lightheaded, I must make him be quiet, so I reach over and cover his mouth with my hands. He still tries to talk. My hands are getting numb as  press down against his face. My head sways back and forth as I feel the numbness creep through my entire body. My eyes close and I see a woman laying down by the side of a river. The sun shines over her head and she smiles. Everything is like it used to be…

My eyes fly open and I suddenly realize I was slipping. I slowly fight against my body to recover the Oxy/Gen Inhaler. In slow motion, I bring it up to my face and take a deep breath. As my head begins to clear, I notice that my patient is laying dead of asphyxia. A wave of emotions overcomes me and I stand up. 

I take another big hit from the inhaler and begin to gather up my tools. He was beyond help, so there is no reason to remain here any longer. I see his sack laying a few inches away from his outstretched hand. Something compels me to reach into it. I pull out a black cassette tape labelled Tactical Neural Implant. Not knowing why, I slip it into my toolbox.

Departing the scene, I am once again detained by an Enforcer Troops droid. It leans close, scanning my face with its sensors. 

“Number of organic materials?” it asks.

“None,” I reply. Two casualties: one was beyond repair and the other suffered a system malfunction during repairs. There is nothing left for me here. The rest is yours.”

I get into my vehicle and drive toward my base in Sector II. As I drive, I glance over at my toolbox. A strange wave of nostalgia washes over me. I ignore it, turn up the Oxy/Gen level on the car, and drive into the arriving dawn.