Alain Jourgensen’s career as Mr. Ministry began oddly in early ‘80s techno-pop. When he roared back a few years later with an entirely different sound, deploying sequencers and digital programming alongside serrated electric guitars, rock critics often dubbed Ministry as “industrial.” But Jourgensen’s new model mosh pit army had less to do with Einsterzende Neubatten than with the becoming the roots of ‘90s aggressive metal, the orchestrated frenzy of bands like System of a Down.
The rudely titled Adios Puta Madres is Ministry's long goodbye, a package containing a live CD from their farewell tour, a concert DVD and—most interestingly—a tour documentary DVD. Along with the fist-pounding apocalyptic rant of the music is a look into the method behind Jourgensen’s madness. Before launching the tour, he sequestered Ministry on a remote desert ranch where they did nothing but drink and rehearse for a solid month, warming up with the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and getting every note and flourish down with an ear toward recreating album tracks on stage.
Unsurprisingly, given Jourgensen’s uncompromising attitude, he insists that the Adios tour is the end. Better go out at the top of his game than undergo the steady decline of most rock bands.
