Just when you thought Al Jourgensen was rotting away in a prison or busted in a drug sting, Ministry whips out The Last Sucker, the final installment in a Bush-bashing trilogy that began with 2004’s Houses of the Molé. The industro vets’ latest is plenty crushing, all right, and yet Sucker’s frequent guitar solos and analog aftertaste continue the move away from the rivet-head sound that started with 1996’s slow and doomy Filth Pig. Sadly, this will be their final outing before Jourgensen retires the band and sequesters himself in his El Paso compound to work on non-Ministry stuff. As consolation, you can pick up the April Fool’s Day release of Cover Up, featuring Mr. Al and friends’ de(con)struction of tracks by the Rolling Stones, Dylan and other sacred cows. Do phrases like “odd time signatures” make you cringe? Swedish virtuosos Meshuggah churn out twisted, druggy grooves that will have you declaring, “I can’t believe it’s math-metal.” With Hemlock. Playing Fri.-Sun.
April 4-6, 2008

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