It's a shame about Al, resorting to this juvenile and meat-headed selection of tunes. He played it right a few years back and "retired" his long-standing and influential band Ministry after some sub-par recordings with mainly hired guns as his "band" and some plain awful albums of classic rock covers. Now, after being convinced by guitarist Mike Scaccia to do "ONE" more, here's the result -- another collection of un-subtle but explosive electronic thrash metal monsters that do absolutely nothing to redeem Ministry or further their legendary status.
Opening with the in-your-face obviousness of "Ghouldiggers", the album cruises through 9 (plus one remix) more breakneck riff-monsters. "Freefalll" is cartoon metal, but a personal insight into Al's addiction demons, so it gets a pass. Other cuts, like the positively embarrassing "Weekend Warrior" or the hideous "Git Up Get Out 'N Vote", which is as hammy and over-the-top as it sounds, prove to be among the most shameful tracks Ministry has ever done. The rest of this is simply re-treading and re-hashing his previous few albums, nothing more and nothing less, sadly.
On a good note, the production here is tight and crisp, with the guitars and drum(machine)s being deliriously loud and clear. And the faithful cover of the S.O.D. classic "United Forces" is fun enough. But still, I am in shock at how silly and adolescent this whole effort is. Just no. (13th Planet/ AFM Germany)
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