Ministry – Dark Side Of The Spoon

Probably the least convincing Ministry album, although some interesting ideas and experiments were tried here, "Dark Side Of The Spoon" came at the end of a difficult period for Al Jourgensen's band. The slow, doomish atmospheres presented on "Filth Pig" had been criticized by journalists and audience, who were expecting something even faster and more violent than "Psalm 69", so, when you start listening to "Supermanic Soul", it seems that the inevitable choice was to start pump again on heavy guitars and breath-taking rhythms. While the aforementioned first track, "Whip And Chain" and the nice but not very exciting single "Bad Blood" try to regain the scepter of the fastest and most violent industrial metal band on Earth, the rest of the CD fortunately parts from this urge, to experiment new unusual solutions.
"Nursing Home", for example, is a very strange and noisy instrumental track, with a jazzy rhythm and what sounds like samples of dentist's drills, while the excellent "Kaif", best tune of the album, is a slow, sad song, with heavy drums, sludgy rhythm and Jourgensen's voice expressing some real grief. It's a sign that the band believed in "Filth Pig", and they wanted to continue with what they had started on that underestimated CD. "Vex & Siolence" is the brainchild of Paul Barker, and it sounds much like a Lead Into Gold song, equally slow and introspective.
Anyway, all this is definitely not enough to save a CD which sounds weak and not at all convincing. The problem is that we're talking about Ministry, a band that marked history, inventing so much. This is, in the end, a less than average album, recommended just for Ministry maniacs who want to dig every single thing they recorded and discover hidden dark gems amongst their worst production.
Personally, however, I prefer listening to this than to the redneck heavy metal of "Rio Grande Blood"...