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)
Taking their name from the scientific term for the syphilis virus, French industrial metal act Treponem Pal have been active for some years, and have seen a career littered with highs and lows. Often seen as a kid brother of sorts to their mentors/friends in Swiss avante-rock act the Young Gods, they have created some of the finest music of their genre, and they are back after an 11-year absence with a new CD. This is my quick-step assessment of their major recorded works up to now.
"Treponem Pal" CD (1989) - This raw debut was produced by Young Gods vocalist Franz Treichler, and indeed, it does echo that group's gutteral, explosive rock vibe. Vocalist Marco Neves' vocals are even a similar tone to Franz's. Nonetheless, the band's penchant for SWANS-style slow-burn grooves are obvious, as well as their prog-rock ala Voivod elements. Listen to "Slow Man" and hear for yourself their SWANS fixation in full effect. If you can get past some rather silly lyrics (who can forget the album's closer, "Soft Mouth Vagina"?), you may be surprised that this album holds up fairly well today.
"Aggravation" CD (1991) - My initial introduction to this smoldering aggro-metal act, "Aggravation" boasts production by former SWANS drummer Roli Mossimann. It's denser, heavier, and more guitar-heavy than it's predecessor. "Rest Is A War" is all-out war indeed, while the thrashy "Fugitive Soul" throws in some killer guitar samplings among the live instruments. Here is where the group really picks up some steam. There are still some slower grinding moments, but the band goes more metal here, with slicing guitars and thumping grooves. "TV Matic" is Voivod meets Young Gods, and works nicely that way, thank you very much. Their cover of Kraftwerk's immortal "Radioactivity" works surprisingly well, too. The start of something great.
"Excess And Overdrive" CD (1993) - With Treichler returning to the producer's chair, this remains the band's tour-de-force. I spent a lot of time in the 90's listening to post-Wax Trax! industrial rock and metal, and this album rates very highly, indeed. A shame it's been mostly ignored and unheard by many of those who would've made T.Pal major stars back in the day. "Out Of Reach" is a scalding, hot anthem of electronic-tinged metal. Every bit as powerful as Ministry ever were, the single, "Pushing You Too Far" is catchy, omnipotent, and combines the group's influences the most cohesively. It's simultaneously slow and brooding, then bombastic and grinding. It's no wonder Al Jourgensen drafted guitarist Michel Bassin for a Ministry tour during this era. The title track is a massive SWANS slave-grind, and "Sometimes" lashes this dissonant sludginess to a stomping metal groove. From start to finish, this is a stomping monolith of crushing mecha-metal madness, with a furious sense of urgency and swollen aggression. One of my personal favorite industrial-metal albums of all-time, seriously.
"Higher" CD" (1997) - The band was on a roll with "Excess", but for some reason, it took 4 years for this one to finally see release, and on a major label, no less. Well, this is where the band's momentum stopped abruptly. I blame part of that on the weak production of KMFDM's Sasha Konietzko, which managed to completely subdue and neuter Treponem Pal's hard-driving sound. "Higher" as an album sounds plastic, puerile, and like KMFDM with a different vocalist. The dubby-reggae sounds of "Panorama" or "Freetribe" are likely the doing of vocalist Neves, who went on, after this album, to work as dub project Elephant System, but the KMFDM production makes it all sound flat and bland. And we won't discuss their cover of "Funky Town". Sad to see the band fall so far.
"Weird Machine" CD (2008) - After 11 years away, Neves returns, with a new lineup, bolstered by the addition of some genre heavyweights -- bassist Paul Raven (Killing Joke, Prong, etc., who, sadly, passed away while recording for this album) and drummer Ted Parsons (SWANS, Godflesh). This is the group's strongest showing since "Excess And Overdrive", with songs like "Planet Crash" returning to the band's original heavy rock sound. "Hardcore Massive Soldier" recycles lyrics from past T.Pal songs, as well as referencing Sonic Youth, among others. "Mad Box" is a cover of the track "The Box" from the band's debut album, and there's more big rock songs like "Human Attack", which balance the group's "Excess"-era sounds with electronic underpinnings. Marco's vocals are appropriately gutteral and harsh, and this proves that Treponem Pal is back with a vengeance. "Weird Machine", though it's not seen release in the states at all, is certainly worth looking for if you've ever appreciated this band's past works.
This is the first proper solo release from former (?) Fear Factory frontman Burton C. Bell, and it manages to move pretty far from the thrashy, electro-tinged death metal of Fear Factory. With John Bechdel (ex-Prong) on most of the musical programming, "Numinosum" is Burton's attempt to show off his more melodic vocals in a more subdued, song-oriented arena. To some degree, it works, but not entirely. Songs like the almost-epic "Evading" are synth-heavy, and almost new-wavey, but not wimpy or fey at all. Think Killing Joke's more 'pop' songs, and you won't be too far off. It's sad, sometimes mellow, and only effective part of the time. "Canon For My Beloved" almost reaches some dizzying heights, but just never quite makes it to these ears. Maybe it's the dated drum sound/programming...maybe it's Bell's limited vocal capacity. I hear a great album from Bell, but this is not the one. I admire his gutsiness in possibly alienating many of his metalhead fans. "Moonshine" is a pretty, shimmery, minor key pop song, for example. Perhaps even more surprising is the group's cover of "The Sounds Of Silence" (yes, that one), which could/should have been catastrophic, but Bell and Bechdel and company keep it faithful and close, and thus this is an unlikely success. Bell's lofty aspirations haven't quite been reached with this unsteady album, but it's a good place to start, and hints at some greatness yet to come. (13th Planet)
