Four years after Al Jourgensen put the Industrial Metal band Ministry to rest, they’re back again. In March they released a new album, fittingly called Relapse. Oslo, Norway, was the second stop of the European leg of their comeback tour, entitled the DefibrillaTour, but sadly the venue was only half full. At least those who were there got their money’s worth, and then some.

During the opener “Ghouldiggers” a glass of beer came flying through the air and soaked Jourgensen. Unlike a lot of other Rockstars, Jourgensen played it cool, wiped it off and licked his hands. Jourgensen seemed to have a good time and in-between singing and having sips of wine, he shook hands with the people in front of the crowd, danced and asked the crowd for a joint (which he eventually got despite the security’s eagerness to snatch oncoming joints before they reached the stage).

The main set consisted of songs from the four last albums: the latest Relapse and the band's anti-Bush trilogy, consisting of Houses Of The Molé (2004), Rio Grande Blood (2006), and The Last Sucker (2007). Accompanied by videos, the lyrics addressed corruption, crooked politicians and greed in the music industry. Ministry played with such precision and such joy and the band was filled with energy that seemed to rub off on the crowd. Great songs like “No W”, directly aimed at said president, “Rio Grande Blood” and “The Last Sucker” got great response from the crowd and that seemed to rub off on the band as well.

The encore consisted of songs from The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (1989) and their most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs (1992), but they omitted the other 90s’ albums Filth Pig (1996) and Dark Side Of The Spoon (1999) completely from the set. Not that it mattered because the classics they played were just what the crowd wanted. The old songs were much more up-to-date sounding at this concert and way heavier with a hint of modern Thrash rather than the very dated '90s Industrial Metal sound from the original recordings. The crowd sang along with all of the old songs, and when the band re-entered the stage for a second encore consisting of Stormtroopers Of Death’s “United Forces” even a mosh-pit was formed.

As people said during their last tour, this could be the last chance to see Ministry live. Even if that’s not true, this is an energy-filled show that you cannot miss!

Setlist: Ghouldiggers / No W / Rio Grande Blood / Señor Peligro / LiesLiesLies / 99 Percenters / Watch Yourself / Life Is Good / Waiting / Worthless / Relapse / The Last Sucker / Khyber Pass / Encore: Psalm 69 / N.W.O. / Just One Fix / Thieves / So What / Encore 2: United Forces (Stormtroopers of Death cover)

Photo by Odd Inge Rand