Band:	Ministry
Album:	From Beer To Eternity
Style:	Industrial metal
Release date:	September 06, 2013
A review by:	D.T. Metal

01. Hail To His Majesty
02. Punch In The Face
03. Permawar
04. Perfect Storm
05. Fairly Unbalanced
06. The Horror
07. Side FX Include Mikey's Middle Finger (T.V.4)
08. Lesson Unlearned
09. Thanx But No Thanx
10. Change Of Luck
11. Enjoy The Quiet

Ministry called it quits a few years back, decided to give it another shot with last year's release Relapse, all seemed honky dory, they went into the studio to make more magic happen and then, once again, real life threw a major wrench into Uncle Al's plans for a revitalized version of the band. With that being said, I won't compare this album to the rest of Ministry's discography, but rather review it on the merit of what it portrays.

Was the wheel reinvented with the release of From Beer To Eternity? No, not really, but it feels as if Al Jourgensen wanted to combine the band's last 30+ years of musical diversity into one big BANG; and honestly, I believe he succeeded. Hello - "Punch In The Face" is about as Ministry'ish as it can get and the smorgasbord of industrial noise effects, along with reoccurring characters, such as SGT Major, is present throughout the entire album.

While I do like "Permawar", I believe the choice of releasing it as the first single of the album was not necessarily a good one; there are better songs which would have represented From Beer To Eternity much better. Maybe "Perfect Storm", with its groovy undertone, would have been better suited, but then again, doom and groove was never a genre Ministry was known by.

Starting with the eccentric and profanity laden opener, "Hail To His Majesty", the album offers something for fans from every decade of Ministry. Be it "Lesson Unlearned", with its female vocals reminding us almost of the heydays of the 70's or the infomercial like track "Thanx But No Thanx", down to ripping FOX News a new one in "Fairly Unbalanced" and last but not least,"Side FX Include Mikey's Middle Finger (T.V.4)", a track which showcases Mike's guitar shredding ever so fantastically.

I dig the album in part because it varies in almost every song, but somehow it doesn't stray from the core elements of what the band is known for; good or bad. A very fitting ending to a very diverse album with a statement by SGT Major: "enjoy the quiet now"! Well Big Al's, for what it's worth and hopefully not, but just in case this album WAS the end - thanks for the ride.

For me, From Beer To Eternity is a tribute - the final chapter of a band who has seen, and musically, done it all, and in the end, when the stars seam to align once again, Ministry, along with the rest of the music world, suffered an irreplaceable loss.

R.I.P. Mike Scaccia