LIVE REVIEW: Ministry @ O2 Institute, Birmingham
The announcement that LA’s MINISTRY would hit UK and European shores for a 24-date run in support of fourteenth studio album AmeriKKKant had industrial-loving metalheads frothing from every orifice earlier this year. A handful of festivals and EU shows later, the genre pioneers are back in Birmingham with fellow noisemakers 3TEETH in support – and the O2 Institute will host this indecent sonic union.
The amount of MINISTRY merch-clad punters swarming the Institute would suggest that the majority are solely gathered here for Al Jourgensen and co. But by the time 3TEETH take the stage under a smouldering blaze of red strobes, only the minority remain disinterested. Decked out in leather, chains and those omnipresent shades, frontman Alexis Mincolla writhes and saunters over every inch if available space – the epitome of molten cool. A rock god for the anti-establishment. Thrusting the mic stand skywards, the crowd can only surrender to the irresistible thump of opener Divine Weapon; and the jump-off for the LA five-piece’s twisted melange of vicious grooves and post-apocalyptic soundscapes. The frontman’s instruction that his onstage brethren “fire it up” on account of tonight’s curfew being “shit” is duly acknowledged piledriving into a monstrous rendition of EXXXIT (from forthcoming album Metawar) and pummeling eardrums via Slavegod’s scabrous screams. Shifting seamlessly between harsh and clean screams underpinned by a bone crushing bass tone, Pit Of Fire showcases the band’s versatility reaching sonic climax during set closer Master of Decay. Lack of new material aside, tonight the filth-laden aural maelstrom that 3TEETH deal in certainly proves that this genre still retains its thundering pulse.
Rating: 8/10
It’s a game of two halves for MINISTRY this evening with the LA industrial pioneers serving up a set comprised of material from AmeriKKKant followed by classic cuts from yesteryear. The mercury shoots as the strains of intro I Know Words begin to filter out – and it’s the cue for the Institute’s collective volume to rise. Flanked by retina-popping visuals from mounted screens and assorted Giger-esque stage props, the emergence of inimitable talisman Al Jourgensen et al incites raucous applause and the first bomb drops courtesy of Twilight Zone; its heavy-duty riffs churning relentlessly whilst pushing this crowd towards fist-pumping delirium. Twisted metal and funk-laced beats collide as singles Wargasm and Antifa are rattled off in quick succession before the title track’s bass-driven barrage rounds off tonight’s opening act. Despite the …’s monolith status, there are moments where they appear to lose momentum. And that driving energy dissipates. Thankfully, the band’s decision to blast back into the past extinguishes any such lulls; order is restored via a blistering salvo of Deity, Stigmata and Psalm 69 anthem / fan favourite Jesus Built My Hotrod. And ding a ding dang (to quote the frontman himself), it sounds utterly colossal – almost lifting the roof and transforming the floor into a sea of bouncing bodies. The rapid machine-gun fire of Thieves explodes all over the now rumbling venue before REVOLTING COCKS cover No Devotion sends this hungry mob out into the sultry July night. Tonight in Birmingham, MINISTRY are proof that the past can still sound as potent as the present.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Birmingham from Damian John Photo here:
