Ministry - "Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs" (1992)

Ministry's fifth studio album, and still their best one. This album marked Ministry's breakthrough, thanks to the singles N.W.O., Just One Fix and Jesus Built My Hotrod (featuring Butthole Surfers singer Geddy Hayes).

Frontman and founder Al Jourgensen recently announced their current album The Last Sucker (2007) will be their last. I for one will miss Ministry, but if I know Jourgensen correctly, he's gonna keep making music that sounds pretty much just like Ministry, just under a different name.

I'm in a wee hurry, so I'm just gonna copy and paste some shit about Psalm 69 from Wikipedia:

Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs is an album by the band Ministry. It was released in 1992 through Sire Records. The actual title of the album is ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΞΘ (a Greek word roughly pronounced as "ke-fa-lay," meaning "head" or "leader", and the number 69 in Greek numerals), though Psalm 69 is used for simplicity's sake.

The song N.W.O. features samples of George H. W. Bush and was used in the Ralph Bakshi half live action/half animated film Cool World. It is frontman Al Jourgensen's critical take on the state of world affairs after the Gulf War and the end of the Cold War and an uncertain future.

N.W.O. was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1993.

The title of the album is directly linked to chapter 69 of The Book of Lies, a written work of Aleister Crowley, where he uses the expression "The way to succeed and the way to suck eggs" as a pun for the 69 sex position ("suck seed" and "suck eggs"). Moreover, Crowley titled the chapter ΚΕΦΑΛΗ, which means "head" (the English word being slang for Oral sex - but not the original ancient Greek word) and is used often in the New Testament. There is no direct link to the Old Testament passage Psalm 69.

Enjoy, kids. Revel in the chaotic, industrial rock 'n' roll mayhem that is Ministry.

(mp3) Ministry - Just one fix (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Ministry - Hero

(mp3) Ministry - Psalm 69

The video for Just One Fix:

Buy Psalm 69@ Amazon.com.

Spiritual Beggars - "Mantra III" (1998)

Spiritual Beggars... The name alone hints at greatness beyond the mortal realm, doesn't it?

Formed in Halmstad, Sweden in 1994 after lead guitarist Mike Amott had left English gore/grind/metal/whatever legends Carcass and moved back home to Sweden. Having nurtured a fetish for groovy 70's rock for years, Amott got some random homies together to fulfill his dream, most of which he found at the local rehab centers, just lying around killing time, listening to Slayer, avoiding work and doing hard drugs and roach powder because there was nothing better to do (okay, I made that last part up).

Ludwig Witt on drums, Per Wiberg (now also a member of the almighty prog metal gods Opeth) on keyboards, and the true jewel in the crown, the one who made it sound as awesome as it did: Vocalist/bassist Christian Sjöstrand, a.k.a. Spice. Spice's voice was the one thing that sucked me right in when I heard the band for the first time. After recording four albums with Spiritual Beggars (S/t in 1994, Another Way To Shine in 1996, Mantra III in 1998 and Ad Astra in 2000) he left the band and has since recorded quality stuff with Mushroom River Band, Kayser and most recently Spice And The RJ Band. All worth checking out.

To replace him, Amott hired Grand Magus vocalist Janne "JB" Christoffersson, with whom they have so far recorded two albums (On Fire in 2002 and Demons in 2005). And while he's not a bad singer in any way whatsoever, it's the Spice era that means the most to me. I love JB's voice in Grand Magus, but if I wanna listen to Spiritual Beggars... I want me some sugar and Spice.

Mantra III is, along with Another Way To Shine, my favorite Spiritual Beggars album - just the songtitles alone are awesome (Monster Astronauts, Lack Of Prozac, Mushroom Tea Girl, Cosmic Romance etc etc). Mantra III was my introduction to the band and the majestic Euphoria was the first song of theirs I ever heard, on some Swedish TV show in 1999 in a montage of then-current Swedish metal, spliced inbetween In Flames' Scorn and Tiamat's Cold Seed! Homage To The Betrayed is another quality track, which for some reason reminds me of Down. There's something slighty Pepper Keenan-ish about the riffs and I can totally hear Phil Anselmo screaming on top of 'em. To finish it off: The oh so hard rockin' Redwood Blues, which was included as a bonus track on the 2007 reissue of Mantra III.

(mp3) Spiritual Beggars - Homage to the betrayed

(mp3) Spiritual Beggars - Euphoria (highly recommended!)

(mp3) Spiritual Beggars - Redwood blues

Euphoria live in London 2005 (I think), with current singer JB:

Buy Mantra III @ Amazon.com.

10 Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #1

(mp3) Dÿse - Senge
Unreleased (2007)

(mp3) Vomitory - Terrorize brutalize sodomize
From Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize (2007)

(mp3) Behemoth - Prometherion
From The Apostasy (2007)

(mp3) Ostinato - Jagganath
From Left Too Far Behind (2004)

(mp3) Lucien - Unholy lord of rock
From Lucien (2007)

(mp3) The Hidden Hand - Coffin Lilly
From Mother Teacher Destroyer (2005)

(mp3) Spectral Mortuary - Neurotic flesh carvings
From From Hate Incarnated (2007)

(mp3) Entombed - Masters of death
From Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments (2007)

(mp3) Pig Destroyer - Loathsome
From Phantom Limb (2007)

(mp3) Volt - Al Salaam
From Romeo K.O. (2005)

B-Thong - "Damage" (1995)

Well well well... Looks like I've done created myself another blog.

Unlike the first one, Monkey Bastard's MP3 Blahg, Metal Bastard's MP3 Blahg will focus on the heavier, angrier, faster and more aggressive and abrasive parts of my record collection. In other words, all the stuff that just didn't fit the other one. Metal, punk and hardcore have always been my first love (since the age of 12 when Metallica and Faith No More came into my life) so I'm surprised I haven't gotten around to making a blog devoted to heavy music until now, at the ripe ol' age of 26.

I'll start this sucker off with a forgotten gem: Sweden's B-Thong, and their second album Damage (big shout out to Joanna A for reminding me of this meisterwerk and sending me the three mp3s at the bottom of this post). Damage is pretty typical sounding for a mid-90's metal record. No real surprises in the production, it sounds pretty much like you would expect it to. Plenty of Prong influences, some Pantera here and there, perhaps an ounce or two of Machine Head. A little of this, a little of that, with a pinch of dippity doo sprinkled on top. Nothing terribly original.

What really impresses is the level of musicianship that hits you straight in the nuts from the first few seconds on, Tony Jelencovich's powerful voice, and songs that remain hooky and memorable, but never compromising in heavyness and attitude (certainly something B-Thong had in common with Pantera). After this album Tony left to persue his sideproject Transport League fulltime. After Transport League called it a day, he sang in Danish cyber-rockers Mnemic for about a day and a half before being replaced by frog-eater Guillaume Bideau.

Following the departue of Jelencovic, B-Thong recruited Ralf Gyllenhammar to take care of vocal duties, but after one album with Ralf (who now fronts Gothenburg's metal/rock/stoner heroes Mustasch, one of Sweden's most popular heavy bands) B-Thong threw in the towel. Probably wisely so - they would never be able to top Damage anyway, so what's the point?

(mp3) B-Thong - Seeking

(mp3) B-Thong - Prison mirror (highly recommended!)

(mp3) B-Thong - Dead parts, part dead

The video for Seeking:

Buy Damage @ Amazon.com.