Having never listened to any of Al Jourgensen's music before, I had no idea what to expect from the debut album by SURGICAL METH MACHINE, the MINISTRY frontman's latest project. What I found was a collection of songs every bit as zany as its name would suggest, a wild, colorful ride that is as unpredictable as its founder himself. Jourgensen decided, along with engineer Sam D'Ambruoso, to create SURGICAL METH MACHINE after the death of former MINISTRY and RIGOR MORTIS guitarist Mike Scaccia. Their initial goal was to create the fastest songs possible, and it's clear that Scaccia's playing was an influence on whirlwind offerings like "I'm Sensitive" and "Tragic Alert." High-octane, tremolo-picked riffs fly at perilous speeds as the first half of the album boils with aggression. "Smash and Grab" bombards the listener with jackhammer drums and synths, its pulse-pounding beat working in tandem with its incessant rage, while "Rich People Problems" seethes with a kind of cynical anger that gives the song a dirty, crossover Thrash vibe. "I Don't Wanna" doubles down on the Punk approach, taking a slightly less serious tone that makes the band sound even more unhinged than before.

"Unlistenable" begins much the same way, though it trades hyper-speed riffing for synths before breaking down about halfway through. Al decides to change gears, becoming bored of Metal in favor of more 'listenable' music like DEVO, whom they cover with an exuberant rendition of "Gates Of Steel." From here, electronic sounds and computer beats dominate the proceedings before closing out with the melancholy, hip hop-flavored ballad "I'm Invisible." It's soulful, thoughtful, and wonderfully textured, a song every bit as sincere as the frothing mad offerings that lead off the album. It takes a special blend of creativity and experience to make an album as eclectic as "Surgical Meth Machine" work. From the early, thrashing madness that kicks things off to the gentler sounds that define the album's closing, SURGICAL METH MACHINE challenge the listener to widen their palette while putting a new spin on the sounds that have defined and shaped Jourgensen's career. Overall, this is an exciting release that is accessible to newcomers as well as longtime industrial Metal fans.