Fireball Ministry

Holy cowbell, biker babes! This co-ed stoner metal band sure has some gritty gee-tars and hard rock chops on its fourth studio effort, Their Rock Is Not Our Rock. The album takes its title from Deuteronomy 32:31, but the only gospel Fireball Ministry seems to be preaching is the gospel...

By Niki D'Andrea

November 16, 2006

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Holy cowbell, biker babes! This co-ed stoner metal band sure has some gritty gee-tars and hard rock chops on its fourth studio effort, Their Rock Is Not Our Rock. The album takes its title from Deuteronomy 32:31, but the only gospel Fireball Ministry seems to be preaching is the gospel of gettin' drunk, gettin' it on, gettin' revenge, or gettin' yerself killed. There's a sense of something dirty and dangerous beneath the surface of every song, a heavy dread lurking behind all the lunging power chords and fingers-on-fire fretwork solos. Produced by Mike Terry (Ash, Halford) and recorded in Dave Grohl's Studio 606 West, the album provides the perfect soundtrack for riding cross-country in assless leather chaps on an obnoxiously loud, rumbling hawg. Witness "The Broken," with its thick, meaty riffs and singer James A. Rota's visceral, growling, more-intense-than-any-scene-in-Deliverance vocals. Or check out "Two Tears," a hook-filled, head-snapping ditty about bloodshed. If anybody doubted the band was just using religious themes as a gimmick, a listen to the lyrics — which speak of the glory of hate and pain ("Hellspeak") and announce "The time has come for killing" ("Save the Saved") — confirms FM's irreverence for everything but the gutter gods of rock.

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Niki D'Andrea has covered subjects including drug culture, women's basketball, pirate radio stations, Scottsdale staycations, and fine wine. She has worked at both New Times and Phoenix Magazine, and is now a freelancer.

Contact: Niki D'Andrea