Al Jourgenson continues his guerilla musical war against the Bush family with "Rio Grande Blood" and this time he takes no prisoners. Ministry has been battling with the Bushes since George Sr. was in the White House and the band sampled him for their anthem "N.W.O." It's been said that Ministry is really only at its best when a Bush is in power. I would tend to agree. Psalm 69 was an awesome record, but the Clinton-years follow-ups Filth Pig and Dark Side of the Spoon didn't measure up. Then Dubya hits the scene and we start getting vitriolic discs like Animositimomina and Houses of the Mole again. Rio Grande Blood sees Jourgenson 's war with Georgie hitting a new peak, as one look at the scandalous cover proves. The departure of long-time co-conspirator Paul Barker has not slowed Jourgenson down one bit. If anything, it's let him off his leash and Ministry is firing on all cylinders. This CD is the heaviest, thrashiest Ministry ever. It's hard to believe this band started out as a wimpy, synth-heavy "New Romantic" band. I'm often reminded of Slayer and Exodus while listening to this but augmented by the electronic/industrial terror for which recent Ministry has been known. A look at titles can reveal some of the thought processes here: "Fear Is Big Business,” "The Great Satan,” "Lies Lies Lies" and "A**clown.” I am certainly no fan of the current administration but the relentless one-note bashing gets a little wearying, especially when Bush is sampled multiple times on every track. And I don't agree that there will only be justice when all the Supreme Court Justices are shot in the head, which Jourgenson calls for here. That puts him in the same division as Pat Robertson, who also calls for the same thing. Nevertheless, this is absolutely scathing. Whether you fervently hate the government as much as Jourgenson does or not, you can't argue with a beast this ferocious.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2007 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.