Chris Krovatin is the author of three young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You, Venomous, and Gravediggers: Mountain of Bones. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a contributing writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone’s collective ass. This column represents his opinions–and probably only his opinions.
It is rare that great albums have great covers. On the odd instance they do, something beautiful occurs, a perfect coupling of music and imagery that cements that record into your mind. But plenty of incredible records have lame faces forward. For every British Steel, there is an Ace of Spades. For every South of Heaven, there is a Bonded By Blood. Sometimes, the lack of an awesome cover makes the album even better–a mind-blowing collection of songs with a solidly “Meh” cover makes the music even cooler, as it stands on its own without the help of flashy graphics. Most importantly, a bad album with a bad cover is the worst thing in the world and should be treated as such. Maybe the “Black Album” doesn’t look as good as Master of Puppets, but we all know Lulu can go fuck itself.
This year in metal was no different than any other. Some bands blew our minds with the evocative imagery, and some really shat the bed in full-force. Of course, underground bands with more investment in actual art took the lead, creating awesome weird cover art that speaks to creative souls, while mainstream artists on major labels pumped out cliché and over-produced pieces of hackneyed crap (though in the case of Tankard, you can’t even blame the big record companies–they just chose poorly). So if you consider yourself an artistic soul or a philistine, enjoy my Six Best and Worst Metal Album Covers of 2012. Damn your eyes.
The Six Best Metal Album Covers of 2012:
1. Sigh, In Somniphobia I wish I could even begin to describe what the fuck is going on here. The way I’m seeing it, the elderly aristocrat is pregnant with her eighth dead baby, and everyone at the Italian outdoor market is overjoyed about it. Incredible, but fuck, man.
2. Black Breath, Sentenced To Life This is like a cooler version of those old Exciter album covers—a single hand, leather-clad, coming out of the darkness and smashing the fourth wall with a sledgehammer. The image is both awesome on its own and a perfect representation of the album’s general atmosphere. Brutal.
3. Lord Mantis, Pervertor Here’s what I’m getting: Christ is in Hell, and a number of corpse-faced ambulatory cocks are using their barbed tongues to explore his newly created vagina. Is…is that what’s going on here? Because if that’s it, I’m really not sure whether I should be overjoyed or very, very worried.
4. Six Feet Under, Undead Not only was Undead a solid and entertaining death-metal album, but it had an absolutely incredible cover, with a whirling mind of evil meat perfectly illustrating the inner workings of the zombie. Finally, these guys figured it out.
5. The Howling Wind, Of Babalon Drawn by the inimitable Tony Roberts, this creeping and sinister cover exudes a sense of organic black magic that many fans dream of. It’s one of the few recent album covers that features a naked woman which doesn’t immediately seem corny to me.
6. Kreator, Phantom Antichrist Wes Benscoter, king among death-metal album artists, has done it again with this twisted, over-the-top illustration of…well, the Phantom Antichrist, I guess? Once again, it’s probably a good sign that I have no exact idea what’s happening here, I just want in.
Honorable mentions: The Northless/Light Bearer split for its creepy electric doom priests, and the Horseback/Locrian split for its giant woodland vagina castle.
The Six Worst Metal Album Covers of 2012:
1. Tankard, A Girl Called Cerveza BLECCH. Nevermind that Tankard’s thrash paeans to beer have gone a little flat over time—this cover is beyond hideous. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve all drank enough to flirt with a broad like this, but ugh. Why would you even. GYAH.
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2. Geoff Tate, Kings and Thieves I promise, as much as I find Geoff Tate a ridiculous cornball, I won’t make fun of his album cover if it’s—oh, wait, it’s a confused mess reminiscent of 2008 with its fleur de lis and ravens. Is the one raven stuck? How does this relate to the album? Man, you’re batting a thousand, Geoff.
3. In This Moment, Blood Remember what I said about naked chicks in the last list? Case in point. Between teasing us with naked women that are then weird mannequins and showcasing Maria Brink (are there other members to this band?), In This Moment lost the plot with this album cover. Cool title—wish you’d done something here with it. So the record’s about what? Boobs or crows?
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4. Ministry, Relapse Whelp, sometimes the mighty fall far. The gods of metallic industrial have graced us with the image of a fat, foaming-at-the-mouth ODing metal dude in a…church? Or something? Ugh. This
5. Adrenaline Mob, Omerta BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH! Guys, let’s not do this. Everything going on here has been done better by bands like Volbeat and Chrome Division. The rings on the skeletons finger only make me think of some jackass rapper, any jackass rapper. And the devil/angel girl card? Grow the fuck up.
6. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, Spellbound What. An. Asshole.
Ministry have cancelled their performance at France’s L’Etaples France Rock en Stock Festival after frontman Al Jourgensen collapsed onstage during a show in Paris last week due to apparent heat exhaustion.
An official statement from the Ministry camp reads:
“July 27, 2012 PARIS 9:05 pm Ministry Front man Al Jourgensen collapsed on-stage during the live Ministry performance and was rushed to hospital via ambulance where he was examined by numerous physicians and diagnosed to have had a full-system collapse due to extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion intensified by the lack of ventilation on stage at the venue.
“Doctors confirm via blood tests conducted that Jourgensen‘s alcohol blood levels were well below normal and no narcotics were found in his system. As a result, Ministry has cancelled today’s appearance at the L’Etaples France Rock en Stock Festival in order to allow Mr. Jourgensen a few days rest to recuperate and receive additional medical attention in Switzerland. Jourgensen fully intends to complete the remaining shows on the Ministry DeFiBriLlaTouR European leg.
“Jourgensen extends his most sincere apologies to his devoted Parisian fans who displayed so much love, respect and concern for him before and after the Ministry show. Says Jourgensen: ‘I will make it up to you, somehow. I love Paris, I love the Parisian people. I’m so sorry …but, shit happens and the shit hit the fan for me last night.’”
Ministry released their latest studio album, Relapse (buy on iTunes), back in March.
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Metal iconoclasts Prong recently released their acclaimed ninth album, Carved into Stone, and the band will play the Slipknot-curated Knotfest in August. In celebration, the group–which also feature Tony Campos of Static-X– is giving away a Schecter guitar signed by main man Tommy Victor (enter to win right here). Victor spoke to us about his band’s current goings-on below:
REVOLVER There have always kinda been two sides to Prong: the more thrash side, and the more industrial-metal side. What made you want to embrace more of the thrash side on Carved into Stone?
TOMMY VICTOR I believe there’s been more that simply “two sides” to Prong. When Prong started, we were interested in all sorts of styles. I personally was into a lot of original “Goth” rock, even before the term was coined. I loved Joy Division. Then Sisters Of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Sex Gang Children, and on and on. Killing Joke has always been a massive influence and I really don’t know what genre to put them in. I liked a lot of old “Oi”like Angelic Upstarts and the Business. Discharge and GBH were listened to a lot. In those days, the metal band that was cool was Motörhead, whom I loved and that played into our sound. Then American bands like the Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Die Kruezen came into effect. These are still my main influences amongst the ones I had as a little kid, which were anything from Tull to Sabbath and Kiss. I never pay much attention to the classifications. We picked the best songs for the new album. If they aligned with any contemporary classification, that’s fine. We didn’t point in any direction other than the best songs to represent Prong and it’s wide-ranged history in 2012.
You’ve been quoted as saying that you “hate nostalgia”. How did that feeling influence your approach on Carved into Stone?
I think what I meant with that comment is a little misunderstood by some folks. I’ve always noticed that there have been a lot of bands that completely and directly copy a vibe of a popular pre-existing one. Very recently I went to see a very popular new band that sounded exactly like D.R.I. Of course, I ‘m a little jaded because I loved that band when they arrived , but this copy really annoyed me. These kids, their fans were obviously completely unfamiliar with D.R.I. and it annoyed me. Back in the day, we strived to do something different. We didn’t want to sound like anyone else. That was the essence of rebelling against all the record company forces and radio. That’s why Godflesh and Swans and Black Flag were so cool. After Prong’s success with our record Cleansing, the label wanted carbon copies of our successful single “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck.” It was really difficult to do that. It always been ingrained in me to try to push the envelope a bit and take new approaches. In the making of Carved into Stone, we went back into time and made a record unlike any I’ve worked on in decades. Every part–vocal, solo, whatever, we played and doubled to precision without use of Pro-Tools. No grid, quantizing, plug-in over use, etc. To me, that was different. We made a record with 11 quality songs with no filler. For today’s standards, that was different. We spent all our money on a quality producer, Steve Evetts, to be apart of every aspect of the making of the record, which was new to me as well.
It seems musicians tend to test-drive their music with other musicians. Are there any particular musicians outside of Prong that you ran Carved into Stone tracks by before the album’s release, and what was their reaction?
No, not really. Some outside guys were collaborated with. Mike Longworth from MEST and I wrote “Revenge…Best served Cold.” I trusted Steve Evetts, our producer, with helping with some arrangements. This is a guy who has worked with countless bands. He knows the ropes. You have a guy, like me, who has played in a couple of bands throughout the years, regardless of talent, he’s going to have a limited view. Experience really wins in these situations. A broad mind and technical know how. This is the type of guy I can trust.
You’ve played with both Ministry and Danzig. Has your work with those groups had any influence on your own music?
When it comes to actual music, not much influence that I can detect has been implanted. Playing the songs of those bands, that’s different. I’m the kind of guy that if inactive, I won’t pick up the guitar. If I get called on to write songs or tour, I’m all over it. Recently Glenn has done Legacy shows where Misfits and Samhain songs are performed along with Danzig material. I’ve had to prepare a large amount of material on the guitar. It has been fun and challenging at the same time. Then you get to go out and perform these classic tracks live with the guy who created them. It’s not like being in a cover band, it’s something more special. And GD never wants me to imitate the old songs. He wants my take on them. That’s pretty rewarding. I’ve learned a lot from GD on the attitude front. He trusts his instincts. He writes a song, and doesn’t really care what anyone thinks. I tend to write a bunch of songs and throw a lot away, because I feel they are not that good. I’m not anywhere near the vocalist he is, so I guess that’s in order. As far as Ministry goes, I guess this refers to the last question a bit. After being involved in, like, five computer records, I was dying to get in a sweaty studio and jam out riffs with a great live drummer like Alexei Rodriguez. A guy that can figure out his own parts and has a lot of impact on the songs. Playing the Ministry songs live was always a blast. But there wasn’t a hell of a lot of soloing going on. With Danzig, I’m the only guitarist and I’ve been able to get my solo chops up to an okay level from that. I think Carved into Stone has more guitar solos on it than any other Prong record.
There was talk at one point that Ministry’s Al Jourgensen, who put out Prong’s previous album, Power of the Damager, on his label, 13th Planet, would produce Carved. Why did you ultimately decide not to go in that direction?
I think I wanted to keep away from being a Ministry satellite band for one thing. I feel that the electro-metal thing has run its course. I wanted to focus on bringing the songs up to a new level. Quality vocals, good arrangements, etc. I didn’t want to rely on studio techniques to polish any turds, so to speak.
In Prong and Ministry, you played with Paul Raven of Killing Joke, who passed away in 2007. What impact did his death have on you, personally and creatively?
Yeah, Raven played in Prong, way before Ministry. He’s on Prong’s Cleansing and Rude Awakening. He and I initially made contact when he remixed “Irrelevant Thoughts” on our Whose Fist Is This Anyway? EP. We spent a hell of a lot of time together throughout the years. Raven and I would consult each other a lot. I really miss that. He was old school. A real rebel. His bass playing was the best. Nobody could come close. I miss him. I’m sort of still angry that he’s gone. He was a great guy to shoot the crap with as well as play music with.
Prong will be playing the first ever Knotfest in August. How did that come about? What does it mean to you to be part of that bill?
To be honest, I don’t know how we came to be on the bill. Maybe it has something to do my relationship with Joey Jordison, but I haven’t spoken with him. It’s a shock. I think it’s great. Maybe it’ll get Prong’s name out there again. We want folks to hear the new record Carved into Stone. This should help. If anything, it will be fun. We’ll see a lot of old friends and hear some great bands. It should be a good show for Prong as well. Good times!
Recently resurrected industrial-metal titans Ministry are hitting the road in support of this year’s comeback album, Relapse–check out their exclusive US tour dates below. In the meantime, main man Al Jourgensen & Co. have unleashed the music video for Relapse‘s lead-off track, “Ghouldiggers.” Watch the animated clip below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Fear Factory and Shadows Fall recently closed out their tour together in Santa Ana, California. It was a festive night. During Fear Factory’s set, Tony Campos (Ministry, Static-X) came out and sang back-up vocals. Dino and their bass player Matt Devries did tequilla shots onstage. Photographer Stephanie Cabral was on hand to capture the mayhem as it went down.
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The new issue of Revolver, featuring Marilyn Manson on the cover, is now available at newsstands everywhere. You can also buy the issue online here or get it for your iPad/iPhone/iTouch here.
In the cover story, we visit Manson at his new home to look ahead to his forthcoming album, Born Villain, and back at 15 years of Antichrist Superstar.
The issue contains a preview of the 2012 Revolver Golden Gods Awards, featuring live performances by Manson, Evanescence, Slash, Black Veil Brides, and more!
It also features stories on:
- Lamb of God
- Ministry
- Cannibal Corpse
- Shinedown
- Meshuggah
- A Day to Remember interviewing Blink 182
- Asking Alexandria and the Ultimate Warrior
- Kill Devil Hill
- Narrows
- Terrorizer
- Wino
- The movie Silent House
- Skateboarder Chris Cole
- Goatwhore
- 3 Inches of Blood
Revolver Golden Gods nominee and Ministry madman Al Jourgensen supports the Occupy protesters in his new video, “99 Percenters,” which is the first single off the upcoming worldwide release of Ministry’s Relapse, in stores March 26. The clip is directed by director and animator Zach Passero (Wicked Lake, Ministry Lieslieslies, RevCo Fire Engine).
“Hopefully this song and video will motivate people to take action against the Kleptocracy we find ourselves living in,” Jourgensen said in a statement. “I am in awe of the passion and motivation of the Occupy Wall Street movement and feel compelled to contribute what I can to inspire global citizens to continue to take to the streets in protest against the encroaching New World Order.”
Ministry will be embarking on their DeFibRiLlaTouR 2012 World Tour laster this year. For ticketing info, click here. To preorder Relapse, click here. Let us know what you think of the video in the comments.
“99 Percenters” Credits
Producer: Angelina Jourgensen
Director: Zach Passero
13th Planet Productions
Industrial metal legends Ministry, who are releasing a new single on iTunes titled “Double Tap” on February 24, are beginning to tour in support of their comeback album, Relapse, on a trek they’re calling DeFibRilLaTouR. In addition to playing the Wacken Festival in Germany and the Brutal Assault Festival in the Czech Republic, they will be playing in Russia for the first time in their three-decade career. Upon returning to the U.S., they will play dates in Denver, L.A., New York, and Chicago. The full itinerary is below.
Ministry’s touring lineup includes frontman Al Jourgensen, guitarist Mike Scaccia (Ministry/Rigor Mortis), bassist Casey Orr (Rigor Mortis), keyboardist John Bechdel (Ministry/Killing Joke/Fear Factory), drummer AAron Rossi (Ministry/RevCo), and guitarist Sin Quirin (Ministry/RevCo). Soulfly Bassist Tony Campos not performing due to scheduling conflicts.
Also, it turns out Jourgensen’s connection with the band Rigor Mortis doesn’t stop with Ministry. “I had such a blast with Mike Scaccia and Casey Orr writing Relapse that I decided I just can’t get enough of those guys, so they are here now at 13th Planet Studios and we’ve started recording the new Rigor Mortis record,” frontman Al Jourgensen said in a statement. “I’ll be producing, singing, maybe some guitars. Then we start Ministry rehearsals in May for the DeFiBriLaTouR. What can I say? The Boys Are Back in Town.”
MINISTRY 2012 DeFibRilLaTouR Europe
July 01 – Helsinki, Finland – Tuska Open Air Festival
July 04 – Oslo Norway – Rockefeller
July 06 – Gavle, Sweden – Getaway Rock Festival
July 07 – Denmark – TBA
July 08 – Hamburg, Germany – Docks
July 10 – Leipzig, Germany – Werk 2
July 12 – Tilburg, Netherlands – O13
July 13 – Belgium – Dour Festival
July 16 – Bristol, UK – Academy
July 17 – Belfast, IRE – Mandella Hall
July 18 – Dublin, IRE – Vicar Street
July 20 – London, UK – The Forum
July 21 – Manchester, UK – Academy
July 24 – Madrid, Spain – Riviera
July 25 – Bilbao, Spain – Rockstar
July 27 – Selstat, France – L’Art Scenique Festival
July 28 – Paris, France – La Cigale
July 29 – Etaple, France – Rock en Stock Festival
July 31 – Luzern / Switzerland Konzerthaus Schurr
August 02 – Poland – Woodstock Open Air Festival
August 04 – Wacken, Germany – Wacken Open Air Festival
August 06 – Munich, Germany – Backstagewerk
August 08 – Budapest, Hungary – Szget Festival
August 09 – Czech Republic – Brutal Assault Festival
August 11 – Moscow / RUSSIA – Moscow Arena
August 12 – St. Petersburg – Glav Club
MINISTRY 2012 DeFibRilLaTouR US – Tickets on Sale NOW!
June 17 – Denver, CO – Ogden
June 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Club Nokia
June 23 – NYC, NY – Best Buy Nokia
June 28 – Chicago – The Vic
June 29 – Chicago – The Vic
Tickets go on sale next week. Check www.facebook.com/ministry for more info on tickets and VIP Packages
Ministry’s Touring Line-Up includes Al Jourgensen (Frontman/vox/guitars), Mike Scaccia (Ministry/Rigor Mortis) guitars, Casey Orr (Rigor Mortis) bass, John Bechdel (Ministry/Killing Joke/Fear Factory) keyboards, AAron Rossi (Ministry/RevCo) drums and Sin Quirin (Ministry/RevCo) guitars. Soulfly Bassist Tony Campos not performing due to scheduling conflicts.
]]>Ministry mad genius Al Jourgensen is back in full force in 2012: Not only has he re-formed the seminal industrial-metal band, which will drop a new full-length, Relapse, in March, but he’s also releasing the debut from his long-rumored psycho-country project, Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters (you can preview the record right here). One of the 100 Greatest Living Rock Stars listed in the new, 100th issue of Revolver, Jourgensen almost didn’t live to see the new year, however. Below, he fills us in on his near-death experience.
REVOLVER You almost didn’t make our living rock star list because you almost died!
AL JOURGENSEN Man, after The Last Sucker [futureusgalleryin 2007] I was puking up blood every day. I didn’t know why. That’s been going on for the last four or five tours, though, and I didn’t see a doctor because I just thought that was part of what happens when you’re my age on a rock tour. I didn’t know there was a condition attached to it. I would puke blood and get off tour and it would go away. But this time I got off tour and it was worse. Blood was coming out my nose, my dick, my mouth. I’d stand up and fall over. I lost so much blood, I couldn’t even walk. Instead of calling the doctor, I put on this medieval helmet that I had made in the Czech Republic, and I would quit hitting my head on the tiles, if I put on the helmet. I wore the helmet around for a couple days. I was a tired, run-down, bloated drunk–just a mess. And then I exploded on March 27, 2010, and they had to take me to the emergency room.
How close did you come to meeting your maker?
I had 13 bleeding ulcers in my esophagus and stomach, and the ulcer that burst was over a main artery right between my stomach and intestine. I lost 65 percent of my blood. I was lying there in bed in a pool of blood when my wife called the ambulance. And here’s the other great thing. Fire station 13, it’s right across from my house. The paramedics came and said, “We don’t think we can do anything. We’ll try to get him to the hospital in time.” I was going into seizures. My blood pressure was 30 over 20. I was a corpse. I flat-lined and they brought me back. And those paramedics saved my ass and so did the emergency room people at Providence Hospital in El Paso, Texas. I checked into the hospital under the name Dick Sohard because I didn’t want the attention. They put a tube down my throat for three days and did this laser surgery on me. They had a camera attached to these lasers, and they stuck it down my esophagus and cauterized all the six open wounds. I had six active ones and seven scarred over ones. So I’ve had these things for years and I didn’t know they could kill you. I thought an ulcer just caused bad heartburn.
They finally took the [futureusgalleryintubation] tube out and I’m sitting there in the ICU, going through the TV channels. I was kind of cognizant, although they had me pretty doped up. And I realize there’s no fucking hockey channel and the playoffs were about to start. Now I’m the biggest Blackhawks fan ever. I’ve been going to games since I was 6 years old. I know the owners of the team. So I said, “Look, I’ll pay for it, just get me some fucking hockey in my room.” And they said, “No.” So I pulled out all the fucking tubes out of my arm after three days. I was supposed to be in there for a week, but after three days with no hockey, I yanked all the IVs out and walked into the lobby in my hospital robe, you know, the ones with the ass hanging out. Only, I turned it around–so I was full-frontal. I think it’s a cooler look. I did that because they had stashed away my clothes and my cell phone. I went outside to try to get a cab but security stopped me at the front. They said, “Where are you going?” I said, “I’m going to watch hockey. The puck drops in three hours.” They said, “We can’t let you go, sir.” And I said, “Fuck you. This is a free country–still, the last time I checked–sort of.” They called my doctor and she came running down. I had a big argument with her. I said, “Look, you either get me the hockey package or I’m out of here.” She leaves and comes back with a shoebox full of pills, and says, “Take these for your stomach.” We’ll let you go, but you have to take these.” So I called Angie and she picked me up.
Can you still drink?
I have a male nurse who weights 350 pounds named Hector. I call him “Hector, the third bottle rejecter.” I’m only allowed two bottles of wine a day now. And it doesn’t even get to that. It’s about a bottle and a half, and that seems to be good along with the medicine I have to take every day for the rest of my life. I just went and saw my doctor and she said, “Yeah, you’re actually doing pretty good for being a fucking degenerate.”