Great lyrical concept but plain horrible music - A review of Ministry's AmeriKKKant

When the infamous Iraq War started one and a half decades ago, I was still in high school but I remember many students of my age demonstrating against said war and the American President George W. Bush. I recall a classmate of mine who brought a poster to a local demonstration that asked ''Has Bush got a small penis?''. I also remember how the Rock Against Bush compilations were extremely popular among teenagers. I recall how famous artists and bands such as Eminem or Green Day were inspired by said war and wrote songs or even entire albums about it. Back then, everybody had an opinion on that war as even teenagers got interested in politics and history. Ministry released a whopping three albums dealing with the state of the United States of America and its President.

These days, many people would like to have George W. Bush back because an egocentric, populist and selfish businessman whose name isn't even worth mentioning has taken over a country, drastically reversed its development and become a danger to the world, his own country and even himself. Yet, people have become disillusioned by politics and it's surprising that the heroes of yore release a select track criticizing that opinionated madman but don't try to use their popularity more to demonstrate against that government. At least Ministry has decided to voice its opinion and release a conceptual record about the current state of the United States of America called AmeriKKKant. Some people might claim that this was predictable, that it wasn't necessary and that politics and arts shouldn't mix. However, I believe that it's more important now than ever to speak up against what's happening in the United States of America since last year, especially if you are unlucky enough to be a citizen of this country. Ministry's intention to try to change things through its music and lyrics is a very honorable position.

On the other side, an album isn't just about its concept and its lyrics trying to release anger, speak the truth and warn the world. It's obviously also about the music. And the music on this record is plain horrible. The lengthy tracks are filled with numerous distorted sound samples and seemingly infinite turntable sounds that make bands like Rob Zombie and Limp Bizkit go green with envy. The guitar riffs are simplistic and lackluster. The rhythm section is plodding along without any inspiration. There are very few vocals and the few passages that are actually sung always sound the same and consist of hoarse screaming of almost incomprehensible lyrics. The idea to hire a new guitarist, a new drummer and a professional disc jockey on the turntables isn't too bad and the initiative to another metal vocalist as well as a rapper sounds quite intriguing. However, none of these musicians is able to add anything relevant to the album and only the omnipresent disc jockey is audible but for for all the wrong reasons. There only a few minor passages that are even remotely interesting on the album such as the thrash metal stylistics of ''We're Tired of It'' or the few more melodic passages of ''Wargasm''.

Musically speaking, this album is one of the worst I have ever heard in my whole life. It's just one notch above projects like Sabazius and Sloth which means it's truly terrible. The only redeeming quality is the record's concept found in thought-provoking lyrics even though they are at times a little bit too rude and straight-forward as in the controversial ''Antifa''. In the end, the interesting album cover can be interpreted in two ways. First of all, the Statue of Liberty is face-palming because of the disastrous state of the United States of America. Secondly, it might be face-palming because Ministry's AmeriKKKant is wasting its potentially valuable lyrics with absolutely terrible music. If you want to hear a better album about the current state of affairs in the United States of America, you might try out the new record of American progressive metal band Leviathan called Can't be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth.

Final rating: 17%