Isn’t Ministry over? The spurs hung up last year? In 2007? Even longer in terms of relevancy or inspiration for some older fans no doubt anyway, right? For the past five years, the band’s all-encompassing front man, Al Jourgensen has been saying just this. No more Ministry and no more original Ministry music. Hmm. Seems you just can’t keep a good (or aging, drug warped, bored or broke – whichever the new reason to produce another record) man down and even though it’s probably not surprising Al went back into the studio after 2012’s mediocre, Relapse (FBTE constitutes the trifecta of “final” albums for the band), the actual reasoning behind From Beer to Eternity is a poignant one and a worthy finale and epitaph. Not just for the band, but for Al and his long-time guitarist and collaborator, Mike Scaccia, who died on stage at the end of last year, just three days after finishing studio sessions laying down the rough tracks of this record. So in that sense, let’s hope this time, it is the end, allowing Jourgensen to redeem some of the band’s legacy with a surprisingly killer final long player.
ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL v 2.0 