Ministry - Animositisomina (Sanctuary)

Ah Ministry. Just like everything else they've ever done, this album is heavier than a pregnant rhino and as punishing as Lennox Lewis with jackhammers for hands. Unfortunately, it's only about as exciting as Mike Tyson's last few bouts.

It's sad to see something that was once so vital and goddamned fascinating become so turgid and uninspiring. Never have I been so unaffected by a record, much less any of Ministry's. The fact that, technically, it isn't bad makes the situation all the more infuriating. The fact that it's downright boring is almost depressing.

Songs like the title track and the lumbering 'Lockbox' are weighty enough to have wiped out the dinosaurs, but others such as 'Unsung' and 'Piss' would just have bored them to death.

I'm not sure why this album was made. It only serves to highlight Ministry's status as a trick-deficient pony. Now even the few it has mastered seem a little forced and weary. Was this album the unstoppable result of a period of awesomely devilishly inspiration, or was it just done to prove to themselves that they still could pull it off?

Either way, it's not enough. After years tantalising and titillating the freakish locals like a prehistoric Papa Lazarou show, the circus has finally left town. It feels kind of empty now.

Dominic Body