Check This Band Out! Fireball Ministry

Fireball Ministry ain’t got a rule book. If shit rocks, it rocks. Period.

Fireball Ministry

That is absolutely true about Fireball Ministry, they do ROCK! This is Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music that you can sink your teeth into, a throw back sound that is looking ahead. Fireball Ministry’s take on Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music is straight forward riff driven no frills kick ass Rock.

From the beginning, the hard rockin’ and hard partyin’ crew have aggressively steered clear of pretentiousness, trends and all manner of poseurdom, throwing down analog-soaked, bottom-heavy tunes and tipping a hat toward the best of the past without sounding like a mere retread or novelty.

Famously described as Black Sabbath partying with Judas Priest and Grand Funk Railroad, there’s no nonsense in the Fireball camp. They don’t have a shtick. They don’t have a gimmick. The Reverend James A. Rota II (guitar, vocals), Emily J. Burton (guitar), John G. Oreshnick (drums) and Johny Chow (bass) call ‘em as they see ‘em, refuse to kiss ass and have flown the flag for authenticity for a dozen years.

And with their fourth (and best) album, titled simply Fireball Ministry, the foursome shrugged-off any preconceived notions of their own. Nobody looked at each other in the practice room and said, “That riff doesn’t sound like Fireball, man.” If a song is great, it’s great. And the record glows with this freedom.

“We definitely run into that thing like every band does–’that song doesn’t really sound like us’–but this time around we were just like, ’screw it!’” says Rota, with his gregarious laugh. “If it’s a good song, let’s just record it. Let’s just write the songs that we want to write. Not to sound like I think we’re the best band in the whole world, but I think it really suited us well to be able to take off those restrictions. “

Produced by Andrew Alekel, Fireball Ministry is a triumph of will from a band who knows exactly what they are…And exactly what they aren’t.

Ou Est La Rock?

The slight rustic twang that opens “Fallen Believers” is as meat and potatoes as it gets, with a stomach punch groove that drops from the speakers when it kicks in. “Butcher, Faker, Policy Maker” pulses with an anthemic verse stronger than most bands’ choruses. “Thought It Out” is the best Cheap Trick song you haven’t heard, filtered through the hard-driving Fireball engine.

The haunting yet alternately inviting melodious voice that emanates from Rota drips warmly atop the songs rather than doing battle with the riffs, as his guitar partners with Burton’s to remind people what they first loved about the crackle of a vintage amp. Chow’s low-end is rhythmic and anchoring without sacrificing fluidity or dynamics. And John O’s drumming serves the songs with the strength of vision inherent in old school pounders who resist the urge to overplay or show off.

The Second Great Awakening

A clandestine and subversive cadre of true-believers from all walks of life have spread the good word about Fireball Ministry since they relocated from New York City to Hollywood, where the band has mooched a brew or three from the rich and famous without losing themselves or their sound.

Fireball asked an important question with their debut record in 1999 ‘Ou Est La Rock?‘ (French for Where is the rock?) Four years later, the rumble rang louder from the underground, with MTV News taking notice of the bands 2003 release, ‘The Second Great Awakening.’ This record was the band’s first taste of wide critical acclaim,

The Village Voice noting,“Trademark purist metal with groove, given another life…‘King’ is the money shot, but every song ably combines thud and melody” (George Smith, 1/04).

Alternative Press hailed the disc’s, “Fluid bass lines and unpretentious percussion…Fireball Ministry’s authenticity and songwriting trumps the band’s more prevalent peers without breaking a sweat” (1/04).

Folks with a radar for a righteous rock show and low tolerance for the insincere–Dave Grohl, Kat Von D. and Bam Margera, to name a few–will sing the band’s praises without prompting.

The list of legendary icons who have invited Fireball Ministry to share their stages reads like a crucial discography of desert island riffs legendary bands like Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Uriah Heep, Mötorhead, Slayer, and the list goes on…

After an extended break where side projects were allowed to flourish, Rota with members of Clutch and CKY formed The Company Band and Chow with Max and Igor from Sepultura formed Cavalera Conspiracy. When Fireball Ministry reconvened with their sights set on a more hands on approach to their business their third album, Their Rock Is Not Our Rock, was released by their third label in 2005. With Their Rock Is Not Our Rock the group received a hailstorm of critical accolades,

Stuff magazine heralded them, “an unapologetically down and dirty rock band” 10/05, while Revolver hailed them, “thoroughly badass…” (12/05). Elsewhere, the LA Weekly lauded, “The metal that riffeth, that roareth, that passeth understanding. These devils breathe with such steady power, they must even snore rock. Full-range songwriting makes for a headbang that hangs on“(10/05). Billboard remarked the group’s “melodic, bluesy hard rock fits like a broken-in denim jacket (11/05).

Guitar World summed their third effort up, “Like a cross between AC/DC, Queens of the Stone Age and Mountain, L.A.’s Fireball Ministry are pointedly rock, bluesy and psychedelic, but the band is engagingly subdued while bringing the noise. Guitarists Rev. James A. Rota II and Emily J. Burton down-tune and play simply and slowly, with tracks like ‘Hellspeak’ and ‘Sundown’ (see the video below) revealing their earthy, Malcolm Young-inspired riffs. The turgid stoner-rock production of Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, QOTSA) adds to the authentic old-school soupiness, while Rota’s smooth vocal tenor acts as a foil to the band’s plodding heft” (12/05).

“I know that we’re not by any means special when it comes to this, a million bands are going through this, but we just decided we should take matters into our own hands,” Rota says. “With all of the technology and things available to us, we’re able to do this in a much more hands-on kind of way.”

The lack of outside pressure and someone else’s schedule gave the band time and presence of mind to let the music

Their Rock Is Not Our Rock

flow freely and to assemble songs they knew would not only stand up to their impressive catalog, but in many ways, surpass it. Going forward, they’ve partnered with Restricted Release to roll out the album. As with each stage of their career, Fireball Ministry is determined to define success on their own terms and to forge ahead with lives as free from compromise as possible.

“I don’t want to ever have to make excuses for our band or what we’ve done, ever,” says Rota, without spite or malice in his voice. “If that means that I don’t own four summer homes somewhere and a fleet of classic cars, well then, so be it. I couldn’t live with myself if I ever had to say, ‘There was a point where I totally lost it [creatively], but I sure made a bunch of money doing it.”

“It’s not for us,” he concludes simply. “It never has been. And it never will be.”