Manic Monday: Ministry “Comforts” With First Monday Of 2026 Bleakness On “Flashback” Live 1988

With the harsh, icy darkness of January now entirely upon us, this writer often finds himself reaching for some fittingly harsh, icy, and dark music to suit the season. And while there is certainly no shortage of moody bands that fit the bill on that front, perhaps there’s no better genre than industrial if you’re looking for a soundtrack to a bleak, frozen cityscape locked in winter’s unyielding embrace. Industrial-metal pioneers Ministry know a thing or two about that (they hail from Chicago after all), which makes them the near-perfect band to kick off January’s perpetual bleakness. This week we’ll be spotlighting their 80s underground days before they fully baked metal and riffs into their decidedly abrasive brand of attack. But as this live clip of them performing “Flashback” at The Ritz in New York from 1988 demonstrates, the sheer intensity of their beats and rhythm section was plenty aggressive in the run up to their full-on embrace of heavy-metal elements. Check it out, along with the fittingly menacing video for the track below: