MINISTRY animositisomina 1. Animosity 2. Unsung 3. Piss 4. Lockbox 5. Broken 6. The Light Pours Out of Me 7. Shove 8. Impossible 9. Stolen 10. Leper Band: Ministry CD: Animositisomina Imagine: You fall from a story up, hitting the ground hard and forgetting who you are and where you're from. When you start to snap out of it, you fall another story and it happens again. And again. And again. Multiply the speed of this by 10 and vary the rhythm patterns, and you have the feeling that is at the core of Ministry's Animositisomina. That many of Ministry's songs sound similar isn't really what I mean by the idea of them beating a dead horse. It really sounds like the music is executed in the spirit of beating a living creature senseless, to death, until unrecognisable. Which is REALLY GROSS and MEAN. Utterly disgusting, in fact. But you soon pick up on the perfect precision of the beating, followed by the realization that no animals were harmed in the making of this album (we assume). It turns out that once you look past the intense aggression of this music you find an enjoyable background music that is slammable, somewhat danceable, and really good for lifting weights. Really, you will feel like a BADASS. A WEIGHT-PUMPING MACHINE. YOU MAY FLEX YOUR BODY AND THINK IN ALL CAPS. And this isn't all so bad. Any strength in songwriting lost in repetition is made up for by the lack of LAMENESS you will find in most of the other heavy acts of the past few years... Hell, the past decade. No wonder they're from the 80s. "Okay, get to the songs!!!" Fine. The ten tracks average 4-5 minutes each, with "Impossible" and "Leper" at 8 and 10 minutes respectively. The Album opens with "Animosity", a strong track that gives the general feel of the entire album. It is followed by "Unsung", one of the better tracks largely because of its successful use of the chorus effect on the voice. However, the rest of the first half of this album is not as interesting as the stuff to come. "Broken" features an annoying accent that recalls squaredancing. I think you're supposed to hate him. Aggression, roar. "The Light Pours Out of Me" (cover of a Magazine's song) is a refreshing piece that isn't as heavy as the earlier tracks. The guitar is relaxed, as are the vocals. I could see one driving cross-country to this song and nodding happily. "Shove" and "Impossible" take the cake, however. "Shove" is a sort of electronic "Smoke On The Water" from hell, with snapping, tribal-sounding drum patterns and good use of the bass apart from the guitar. "Impossible" on headphones is a dizzying experience, as one is forced to endure an intro of guitar noises moving from the left to the right and back, all before what may be the best song on the CD begins its near 8-minute sonic reign. It is upbeat, it has multiple interesting riffs, and it uses both the plain and chorus voices. All of the best parts of this Ministry album are present on this extended song. The rest isn't bad either, but it doesn't compare to this frikkin kickass song. Rock.