161. stigmata

“It’s true. The mind is a terrible thing to taste. All those lysergic juices, leaking down from your brain to the back of your mouth when all that acid you put in your veins gets to bubbling over. Actually, I was in total control the whole time, Lollapalooza, 1992, the biggest mosh pit I’ve ever encountered, the dark gods of Ministry reigning supreme in their ridiculous over-sized hats. Which is key. Despite all the menace, there was something genuinely fun about Ministry live. Although there was that moment toward the end of their set when they were slaying all with Stigmata (and officially seizing the day from the likes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, The Jesus + Mary Chain, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers) — I turned for a moment from the stage, looked back through the multitude, the thousands upon thousands of spent and wasted young faces illustrating the key lyric all too well: The only truth I know Is the look in your eyes. Did I mention it was pouring rain that day? The rain just kept a-falling.” (Philip Random)

Ministry-1992-live

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432. everglades

“The Blackouts didn’t last very long before breaking up and getting more or less absorbed by Ministry – the rhythm section anyway, Paul Barker and Bill Rieflin, and just in time to propel that outfit to world pummeling fame and/or notoriety. And it’s all there in Everglades, the twelve minute plus A-side of their Lost Souls Club EP, the only record of theirs I ever heard. And honestly, I don’t think I ever made it to the B-side more than once. Because once the prolonged and haunted grooving of Everglades hooked me, there was no going anywhere else. Just so much to explore.” (Philip Random)