UMUR
Rio Grande Blood is the 10th full-length studio album by American industrial metal act Ministry. Their last album Houses of the Molé (2004) was a great return to form after a couple of mediocre releases and this time around the lineup is even boosted by a couple of pretty prolific musicians in Tommy Victor ( Prong, Danzig) on guitars and Paul Raven ( Killing Joke, Godflesh, Prong...among others) on bass which meant that my expectations for this album were pretty high.
The music on Rio Grande Blood is unmistakably the sound of Ministry. Not much has actually changed since Houses of the Molé, but when the result is as enjoyable as it is here, I don´t mind the least. The music is industrial metal build upon thrashy riffing and occasional hardcore punk ditto. There are some drum programming, sounds and noises to give the music the industrial feel. Al Jourgensen vocals are distorted and aggressive and his lyrics are very political in nature. Very anti-Bush and there are several voice samples of Bush talking in the songs. It gives the songs a great dark atmosphere. Songs like Rio Grande Blood, Señor Peligro and especially the fast-paced Fear (Is Big Business) simply blow me away but the quality of the material is high throughout. The production is powerful and detailed.
Rio Grande Blood is yet another high quality release by Ministry and I find it highly recommendable. One of the best albums in their discography and a sure 4 star rating.