Frontman Jourgensen to put Ministry to rest

After 27 years, Al Jourgensen is putting Ministry to rest.

Jourgensen, perhaps America's most legendary name in industrial rock, moved to Texas during the 1990s but began his career in Chicago. Ministry even released a song in March paying tribute to Jourgensen's beloved Chicago Blackhawks, entitled "Keys to the City." Thus, it's fitting that the band performs its final U.S. shows at Chicago's House of Blues this weekend.

Ministry began making new wave dance singles for Wax Trax! Records, the then-fledgling label based out of the Lincoln Avenue post-punk record store of the same name. Over time, the lineup expanded and their sound gradually harshened. Noisy electronics, ominous mechanical and film samples and chugging electric guitars began to dominate.

The dance aspect faded as Ministry became a pioneer of the industrial metal movement, which spawned superstars such as Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. At the peak of their popularity, Ministry headlined arenas and performed just before headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers on 1992's edition of Lollapalooza, their high-octane cyberthrash resulting in a memorably apocalyptic mud fight during the tour's Tinley Park stop.

Sadly, Jourgensen's drug and legal problems took their toll. A fickle public relegated Ministry's experiments to the side as trends like nü-metal and electroclash captured their ears. The band left its home at Warner Bros. for the indie label Sanctuary, and its last three albums came out via Jourgensen's own 13th Planet Records. Although the recent discs have seen Ministry revitalized, with new lineups reviving the energetic style of their early '90s heyday (with matching potshots at another President Bush), not many have heard them.

Guitarist Sin Qirin is one of those new members. A longtime Ministry fan, he was asked to join the band after touring with Jourgensen's side project RevCo in 2006. Participating in last year's "The Last Sucker," the band's final album of original material (they just released the all-covers "Cover Up"), as well as the current "C U LaTouR," he has a hand in helping an act that formed his musical language go out with a bang. Following is an edited conversation with Q.irin.

Q. You have an all-star lineup for this goodbye tour.

A. I'm quite honored to be playing with these guys. We've got Tony Campos on bass from Static-X. He's an old friend of mine; we came out of the L.A. scene together about 13 or 14 years ago. It's an honor to play with Tommy Victor from Prong on the other guitar. We've got Aaron Rossi on drums, also from Prong. John Bechdel on keyboard -- he did the previous Ministry tour and has also been with Prong and Killing Joke, some very influential bands. And of course, having Burton Bell from Fear Factory come out and do guest vocals with us is a blast.

Q. Were you a Ministry fan when Al asked you to join?

A. Yeah, man, a HUGE Ministry fan. It was definitely one of the bands that influenced my style of playing and writing. To now be in the band, it's a pretty mind-blowing thing for me.

Q. As a fan, how do you view the band's evolution?

A. When you're an artist, hopefully you evolve. You don't stay trapped or locked into one particular sound. I know that sometimes that disappoints people because they latch onto something and they always try to hold you to that, but they don't understand that people change, times change.

Q. The electronic stuff got pushed to the side as Ministry became more of a metal band. How do you feel about the more metallic albums?

A. I'm like a Ministry fan as a whole, so I like every album they've done. I'd have to say my favorites are "The Land of Rape and Honey" and "Psalm 69." "Rape and Honey" to me really fused a lot of different styles … sort of post-punk and electronic and a little metal thrown in there. To me, that was one of those albums that really defines that sound.

Q. It seems that general consensus on the recent Ministry albums has been that they've really gone back to the classic sound.

A. For "The Last Sucker," the one that I was a part of, when Al approached me about writing songs for that record, he initially said, "I'd like to make it even heavier than (previous album) 'Rio Grande Blood.'" So I kept that in mind, but at the same time also realizing that it would be the last Ministry album, I went back into "Twitch" and "Land" and even "Psalm." If you notice on the songs that I wrote, they tend to have that kind of vibe. I wrote more of the repetitive riffs, a little groovier and a little slower.

Q. To me, Ministry's legacy is initiating a fusion of man and machine, taking cold technology and making something warmer from it. Do you believe newer industrial bands maintain that?

A. I haven't followed many of the newer bands, to be honest with you. But the style's always going to evolve and change. It's like, who's really classified as industrial now? Is Ministry now not an industrial band because we don't have enough machine or hammer samples or whatever? Labeling is not something I'm a huge fan of, that's why we all have a band name. That's what should separate everybody.

Q. You've got to admit, a lot of "final" tours often turn out to be not so final. How sure can we be that this will be the final Ministry tour?

A. I always say to expect the unexpected and never say never in this business, but having dealt with Al for a few years now, I'm pretty sure this is going to be the last one. He's been talking about this for about three years now. He feels like he's said and done everything he wanted to with Ministry. Being a fan and in the band, I don't want it to end, but I respect where he's coming from with it.

Ministry with Meshuggah and Hemlock

Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago

When: 8 p.m. today and Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $41.50 in advance, $43.50 at the door (today and Saturday sold out)

Info: (312) 559-1212

The Ministry albums/p>

Ministry's albums amply reflect the band's many fluctuations. Here's a look at the most notable albums of Ministry's catalog.

"Twelve Inch Singles 1981-1984" (1985, Wax Trax!) --Forget the roundly hated "With Sympathy," Ministry's debut LP of sub-Depeche Mode synth-pop. This comp features all of Jourgensen's edgy early hits for the black-clad dancefloor set, including the signature "Halloween," which Al retired not long after it was featured in a TV commercial for Old Style Light beer.

Try: "(Everyday Is) Halloween," "All Day," "Cold Life"

"Twitch" (1986, Sire) -- Already the music has become more aggressive. Although still rooted in electronic dance, mechanical clangs and whirs are integrated into the beats. Jourgensen also introduces a punk-style bellow alongside his pseudo-Brit new wave croon, with his voice distorted by filters.

Try: "Just Like You," "Over the Shoulder," "Where You at Now?/Crash and Burn/Twitch (Version II)"

"The Land of Rape and Honey" (1988, Sire) -- The dawn of a new Ministry. Melody is now a thing of the past, with Al delivering tense, angry screams over frightening chunks of static-choked machine punk. Ministry becomes a collective, with bassist and longtime Jourgensen collaborator Paul Barker, drummer Bill Rieflin (now with R.E.M.) and Scottish musician Chris Connelly joining the fold.

Try: "Stigmata," "Destruction," "Flashback"

"The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" (1989, Sire/Warner Bros.) -- Beefing up the rough sonics, Ministry hits its apex with a record that combines Slayer-ish thrash metal riffs with the sound of technology revolting. Jourgensen toys with post-apocalyptic hip-hop on "Test," while Connelly's insane howls on the loping "Cannibal Song" evoke a primal, drug-crazed nightmare.

Try: "Burning Inside," "The Cannibal Song," "Breathe"

"Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs" (1992, Sire/Warner Bros.) -- Ministry's biggest seller was also its most "metal" yet, with guitars by thrash-pedigreed Mike Scaccia (Rigor Mortis) and Louis Stivek (M.O.D.). Even on the slower numbers, all traces of post-punk rhythm make way for squared-off headbanging power. Most famous is the drag-racing-themed single "Jesus," with nitro-huffin' vocals by Butthole Surfers madman Gibby Haynes.

Try: "Just One Fix," "Jesus Built My Hotrod," "Scarecrow"

"Filth Pig" (1996, Warner Bros.) -- Overall slower and more difficult, the material here was seen at the time as either a backlash against fair-weather fans or a reflection of Jourgensen's growing drug addiction. Still, there's lots to explore in these dense, atmospheric bootgazer dirges, making the underrated "Pig" Ministry's best candidate for later rediscovery.

Try: "Reload," "Useless," "The Fall"

"Animositisomina" (2003, Sanctuary) -- While it suffers from a thin mix and some filler, Barker's swan song with Ministry curiously heralded a nudge toward the band's former vitriol. Even Jourgensen seems nostalgic, mixing his ghostly old singing style with the spiteful bellowing. Improving on 1999's formless "The Dark Side of the Spoon," it set the stage for Ministry's late-career revolution.

Try: "Animosity," "Lockbox," "Leper"

"The Last Sucker" (2007, 13th Planet) -- The final disc of Al's trilogy chastising the current Bush administration betters predecessors "Houses of the Molé" and "Rio Grande Blood." Why? Because it sounds the most like "Psalm 69"-era Ministry, Jourgensen's loudest screed against W's dad. Guests including late Prong bassist Paul Raven, Fear Factory vocalist Burton Bell and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison help send our cowboy into the sunset … to the strains of Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address.

Try: "Watch Yourself," "Death & Destruction," "End of Days (Parts One and Two)"