Live report MINISTRY & LIGHT OF ETERNITY, Markthalle, Hamburg – August 1st, 2025

Ministry didn’t have far to travel to get to Hamburg. The industrial metal veterans had played at the legendary Wacken festival the night before, just one hour away from the Markthalle. Supporting Ministry tonight in Hamburg are Light of Eternity, a relatively new band with a veteran line-up.

It’s 8pm and showtime is approaching. Light of Eternity is a trio consisting of Killing Joke drummer Paul Ferguson, Pauly Williams, and Fred Schreck. The debut album, “Collateral”, was released this year, and the band now has the great opportunity to perform these songs in front of a larger audience at the sold-out Markthalle in Hamburg.

The band starts their set with “Aftershock”, and unsurprisingly, most of the tracks are taken from the debut album. I hadn’t heard of the Light Of Eternity before, but I’m increasingly impressed by the power and electrifying performance of the trio. Their music is dark and intense. A fusion of industrial, dark rock and gothic is filling the room. Although the venue is sold out, quite a few fans are still enjoying a beer on the smokers’ terrace at Markthalle, but the longer Light of Eternity perform, the more fans find their way into the hall. This is mainly due to the positive reaction of everyone attending the Light of Eternity set, which included one of the group’s best songs, “Dark Hope”. A fairly recent composition brings the 40-minute performance by the group to a close. “Fascist X” is a dystopian stomper and a great way to end the set. Light of Eternity is a band that should be on your radar, especially if you like hard-hitting music with an industrial and dark wave touch.

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After a relatively short break, it is time for Ministry. Al Jourgensen and his band deliver a kind of ‘best of’ set, taking fans on a journey through the band’s entire career, from their early days to their most recent work. The first song played tonight is “Thieves”, which takes us back to 1989. It’s a great start to the show, as it bridges the band’s early EBM roots with the harsh guitar riff that fully exploded a year later on the “Psalm 69” album. With “The Missing” and “Deity”, we go back even further in time, to the release of “The Land of Milk and Honey”. Even this early in Ministry’s set, it’s clear that the band is enjoying playing live and everyone is also in great shape. Jourgensen has a dark grin, and his voice is powerful as the entire sound tonight is explosive with the thunderous riff power generated by Monte Pittman and Sinhue Quinn challenges the foundations of the Markthalle.

With “Rio Grande Blood”, we enter the politically charged 2000s. This song, with its furious metal blasts, is a rebellious highlight of the set, generating a lot of energy in the room. The same goes for the newest track performed tonight. “Goddamn White Trash” is the grooving wreckingball of the “HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES” album, showing that Ministry have maintained their old strength also in 2025. Fans celebrate this pulsating masterpiece, and of course everyone goes wild when we enter the “Psalm 69” era. After picking up a guitar himself, Jourgensen and his bandmates kick off with “N.W.O.”, followed by “Just One Fix”. These are two of the band’s greatest songs and everyone at Markthalle is either jumping, dancing or headbanging; or all in once. The energy reaches a peak when Ministry introduce “Jesus Built My Hotrod”, with the video projected as a backdrop supporting a time-travel back to 1992.

After leaving the stage for a few minutes, Ministry return and take us back to the band’s roots. “We Believe” and “Effigy (I’m Not An)” both come from the mid-80s and mirror the EBM influences, as does “Revenge”. John Bechtel’s keyboard and synth sounds become much more prominent, and although everyone is enjoying the encore, it seems that many people, myself included, first became familiar with Ministry’s music through “Psalm 69”.

Under very warm and loud applause, the band leaves the stage again and then answering the call of their fans for one more song. “So What” is a glorious finale to a show that exceeded expectations. In 2025, Ministry stands for raw power, pounding beats, and timeless rock and metal anthems. Sadly, this could be Ministry’s final show in Hamburg, as “Uncle Al” announced earlier this year that he will be bringing the band to an end. Let’s see what the future will bring as this stunning show will resonate in people’s minds for quite a while.