Blackouts

Ministry's shift from a synthesizer-focused dance ensemble to a punishing industrial force drew partial impetus from an overlooked Seattle outfit called the Blackouts. Bassist Paul Barker and drummer Bill Rieflin had already honed a style of heavy, emotionally distant rhythms inside that post-punk unit. Absent their later connection to Ministry, the Blackouts might have slipped into obscurity, yet they remain a seldom-noted thread in the city's pre-grunge narrative. The group essentially extended the trajectory begun by the Telepaths. Erich Werner, handling vocals and guitar, joined Rieflin in 1975 to launch the Telepaths in Seattle alongside vocalist Dan Rabinowitz, guitarist Reid Vance, bassist Geoff Cade, and drummer Dean Helgeson. Following the Telepaths' dissolution in 1978, Rieflin and Werner established the Blackouts the next year, adding Roland Barker on saxophone and keyboards to sustain the same exploratory, unyielding approach. After relocating to Boston, the band recruited Paul Barker, Roland's brother. The Blackouts issued a 7" and a 12" on modest independent imprints before crossing paths with Ministry's Al Jourgensen in 1981. Jourgensen helmed the Blackouts' Lost Souls Club EP in 1983, marking his initial collaboration with the two musicians who would later join Ministry. The Blackouts dissolved in 1985. By 1987 Barker and Rieflin had entered Ministry's ranks as the band adopted a heavier, more confrontational direction. Barker co-produced Ministry's pivotal 1988 album The Land of Rape and Honey under the pseudonym Hermes Pan, helping unleash the group's signature barrage of serrated riffs and thunderous percussion. Rieflin meanwhile contributed to recordings and tours by Nine Inch Nails, Hector Zazou, and Adrian Sherwood while also working with both Ministry and the Revolting Cocks until he parted ways with Jourgensen upon completion of the 1995 release Filth Pig. Rieflin issued his first solo album, Birth of a Giant, in 1999.