Compared with their engrossingly harsh, mature sound, the early singles Ministry recorded for Wax Trax! ("Everyday Is Halloween," "The Nature Of Love," "All Day" and "Cold Life"--all conveniently compiled on the aptly named Twelve Inch Singles 1981-1984), steeped in the dance floor aesthetics of the Chicago house music scene, are positively fluffy. Yet there was a wry sneer lurking behind the spare rhythms, faux-Brit accents and ebullient pop hooks. They attracted the attention of Arista records and the fledgling industrialites had a mercifully brief stint with the label. Short as their stay at Arista was, it was enough time to record the infamous With Sympathy album, the gooey result of label efforts to put a thicker coating of commercial gloss on the stylish sound of the Wax Trax! singles. With Twitch (produced by Adrian Sherwood), Al Jourgensen teamed up with ex-Blackouts bassist Paul Barker, drummer William Reiflin and keyboardist Roland Barker. Twisting together sinewy grooves with a gritty palette of sounds ranging from delicately haunting electronics to downright brutal guitar onslaughts, Ministry blended together dance rhythms and caterwauling with mesmerizing intensity. The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and Psalm 69 brought these sounds to fruition, and after startling commercial success (sparked by the group's first radio hit since "Work For Love," "Jesus Built My Hot Rod"), Ministry headlined the 1992 Lollapalooza Tour.

There was a four-year gap between Psalm 69 and Filth Pig, which, when it was finally finished, proved to be as startling a departure as Twitch had been 10 years earlier. A generally pensive, almost sensitive mood prevails over Filth Pig, which is serviceable enough but doesn't really show off Ministry's strengths. Ministry's direction may be a mystery, but in terms of extracurriculars, Jourgensen--never one to keep all his eggs in one basket--has hinted at his desire to pay tribute to personal hero Buck Owens via a country western project called Buck Satan & the 666 Shooters.