Jobie Reviews Music 105: The Land Of Rape and Honey (album) by Ministry. Requested by Hans.
- ChemicalSkylines
- Apr 21, 2021
- 2 min read
The Land of Rape and Honey is a 1988 industrial metal album by the band Ministry. It contains 11 tracks, spanning 46 minutes and 31 seconds of music. The album, according to my research, is significant for Ministry for being a divergence from the sound they delivered in previous albums, which was described as being EBM and synthpop. For me, however, the main highlight of the album is the instrumentation that it brings to the table, being very high in quality.
The album consists primarily of vocals which can range from insane in all the best ways (such as in “Stigmata”), or verging on near-vocalizations (such as in “Hizbollah”). This gives the album an almost unpredictable nature, with some tracks having more pronounced vocals than others.
There are also tracks on this album that don’t contain any vocals at all, such as the track “Abortive”, which is a vocal sample from a NASA mission. Despite there being absolutely no vocals in these tracks, Ministry enhances these simple samples with their high quality instrumentation. This is what makes the album special; Ministry’s ability to enhance any track of any type with their killer instrumentation.
Perhaps one of the best tracks on this album is “Stigmata”, which is the album showcasing its industrial metal sound without restraint. The first time that I reviewed anything remotely like this was back in Jobie Reviews Music 42 - which was 63 reviews ago! In that review, I covered the industrial metal album “Beastland” by Author & Punisher. After listening to this album, it’s clear that they got inspiration from this album in some way. Stigmata and that album both share many similarities, including their insane scream vocals. It’s interesting just how similar the two are, really.
My favorite tracks from this album are “Deity”, “The Land of Rape and Honey”, “You Know What You Are”, and “Stigmata”.
Overall, The Land of Rape and Honey is a great example of an incredible industrial metal album. Frontman Al Jorgensen has gone on to say that he considers this album the “first true” Ministry album, and it’s easy to see why. From its great instrumentation to its overall unhinged sound, this album is a great listen all around.
Overall rating:
8/10
LINK TO ALBUM:
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