Amerikkkant (Black & Grey Swirl Vinyl)

Ministry spent the entirety of George W. Bush's presidency making albums expressing extreme hatred toward the commander in chief, followed by several albums and tours which they insisted would be their last. Following the election of Donald Trump, the industrial metal juggernauts reconvened, and 2018's AmeriKKKant finds them railing against the alt-right, racist Internet trolls, fake news, and everything else to do with the aftermath of the 2016 election. Al Jourgensen had previously stated that Ministry would no longer exist after the death of longtime guitarist Mike Scaccia in 2012, and while his work is absent here, Ministry experiment with a diverse array of sounds and textures, focusing less on thrash metal and incorporating cinematic strings and a whole lot of turntablism, courtesy of DJ Swamp and former N.W.A member Arabian Prince. The album is also stuffed with glitched-out television soundbites and vintage film clips, ending up with some of the most detailed, overwhelming sample manipulation the group has attempted in a while. "Victims of a Clown" makes extensive usage of Charlie Chaplin's iconic speech from The Great Dictator, providing an element of hope. ~ Paul Simpson