Ministry

The duo had originally set out to work on the entirety of Ministry's final studio album together, but settled for one song.

Metal News: Ministry Premiere New Single & Music Video 'Crickets' From Upcoming New Album 'Hate To Go – Take Out Or Delivery'

Ministry have released their final studio album, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery), through Cleopatra Records, bringing the band's 45-year recording career to a close.Coinciding with the album's release, Al Jourgens...

"Hate To Go - Take Out Or Delivery" has officially been served.

Plus releases from Black Royal, Darkest Hour, Genital Shame, Korrupt, Master Boot Record, and Queens of the Stone Age.

Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen has confirmed that the industrial metal band will play its final show on October 30th, 2027 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA.The announcement comes ahead of the release of the band's...

Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen is ready to relax with his goats. The industrial-music titan is sitting at home in California to talk up the politically-charged and pissed-as-ever nature of Hate to Go – Takeout or Delivery, the incisive farewell album from Ministry — their 17th since Jourgensen kicked off his career with the band’s more-synth-pop-flavored With Sympathy album in 1983, when he was still living in Chicago, Illinois. Famously, Jourgensen would ramp up the aggression as the Eighties went on, bringing metallic guitars, processed thrash beats, grizzled-and-manipulated screams and policy-skewering samples to revolutionary heavy hitters like 1988’s The Land of Rape and Honey, 1989’s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste and 1992 magnum opus Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs. The new album once again finds Jourgensen and Co. raging against government corruption, societal idiocy and a chaotic world. It finds him concerned with the rise of AI, which he suggests is still in its “petulant teenager” phase but undoubtedly frightening. As Jourgensen inches closer to his 70s, he’s still angry, though he’s ready for a new generation of musical revolutionists to fight the good fight with their fists in the air. “We’ve been yammering about the same message for 35-40 years… It’s time to pass the torch to a new generation,” he says. “We’ve always had corruption in governments, and we always will, and there’s always needless wars, and there’s always stupid deaths. This isn’t something new, and it’s not something that’s gonna go away.”Jourgensen’s still got a global tour to get through, mind you, but after a yet-to-be-detailed swan-song performance in Los Angeles, pegged for October 30th, 2027, he’s putting the mic down and focusing on a new passion — raising goats that’ll graze fields across California on behalf of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Derick Smith “As of right now, the dog doesn’t have much fight left in him. I’ve got about another year of fight,” he confirms. “I wanted to stop it after [2024’s] Hopiumforthemasses, but the band that’s been together for about 12 years now talked me into it. Like, ‘Look, there’s one more kick left in this mule. Let’s go for it!’” He nevertheless confesses of the end result: “I’m really happy with this last album, and I’m looking forward to this last tour — because it’s the last tour.” Winding down has obviously taken some time. Jourgensen credits kicking illicit drugs over 20 years ago. In more recent times, Jourgensen came to terms with the synth-pop music he turned his back on in the early Eighties — reclaiming the songs from With Sympathy and 1985’s Twitch in concert, as well as through last year’s The Squirrelly Years Revisited re-recording project. It was a way to overcome the “anger and demons” surrounding Ministry’s oldest material, and he was grinning ear-to-ear subverting older songs like “Revenge” with a slightly more distorted edge. Hate to Go – Takeout or Delivery, meanwhile, has Jourgensen kicking against the world on his way out. Terror-judded riffs and mechano-beats hammer along with Jourgensen’s fascist-fighting bark (“Voices of Hate,” “Clown Car”) and disdain for the current administration (“We Hate” and the Trump-sampling “Grifter”). Yet the album closes on the near-joyous “We’re Still Here,” which has Jourgensen capping Ministry’s career with one last song alongside classic-era collaborator Paul Barker. Their paths splintered a bit since they stopped working together full-time in 2003 — “He’s much more of an ambient guy; I’m much more of a turn-it-up-to-11 kind of guy” — but the meeting of the minds produced a unique moment for Hate to Go, one that surrounds Jourgensen’s plaintive howl with uplifting choir vocals and spellbindingly optimistic guitar hooks. The song reflects upon societal upheaval and perseverance. The players will always change — that’s only natural — but Ministry’s famously cantankerous leader envisions that there’s hope for humanity yet. “I left that for the young’uns,” he reiterates of the message. “I’m like my goats, man — I’m pretty pissed off. I’m tired of eating tin cans and brush. But I thought it was important to leave [in a way that’s] not just Ministry shaking fists at clouds.” Martin Mitchell Was there a particular moment that made you decide that this was the right time and album to close Ministry out on?Al Jourgensen There’s this sociology condition of “Why keep shaking your fist at the clouds?” Nothing’s really changing. It’s time to pass the torch to a new generation… There’s the age thing, too. I’m closing in on 70 here real soon, and I don’t want to be one of these people that are playing in their 80s and 90s. I don’t have that need. I have friends who do this, and they try and explain it to me. For instance, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top — who I’ve worked with before on a couple occasions with Revolting Cocks and Ministry — he says, “Man, I just get a big kick out of coming back out there, and they’re still going crazy!” I didn’t even notice that they were going crazy in my prime. When I’m onstage, I never get any kind of adrenal satisfaction out of it. My brain is processing things in a producer style: making sure the band is tight, making sure the frequencies are right in our monitors, our in-ears, making sure we’re in tune. Of course, I have to concentrate on my parts and when I come in. And Ministry has never been one to talk in between songs, we just go “1-2-3-4.” So, I’ve never gotten this big adrenaline rush that these old coots talk about. You’re ready to hop out of the clown car, to put it in the parlance of the album. What appeals to you about the idea of slowing down?Oh, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. What appeals to me about slowing down is that 22 years ago, I quit all illicit drugs: heroin, crack, meth. That slowed me down, [but] it took a while to get used to. I haven’t lived on dealer standard time in 20 years. You learn to readjust your life, and you start appreciating different things that you would have ignored while you were in a state of chaos with newfound fame, money and vices. I’ve gotten into this geographical chill zone here in California, and I really enjoy it. It’s not like I’m bored. I have things to do. You’ve been telling people that you’re going to be herding goats once this is over. That’s a literal goal of yours?Yeah! I find it peaceful. I’ll just sit on my porch and watch my goats eat brush. I’ve got a little parcel of land down here, and the county of Los Angeles will pay you $15,000-$20,000 a month to get a goat herd of 20 or so and drop them off at the places that the Los Angeles Fire Department deems a fire hazard. You just let off your goats and they graze for a while, and then you come pick them up in a couple weeks. You don’t have to do shit. I think goats are cool — they’re as cantankerous as I am! I think that’s a perfect way to switch careers. I really don’t have any other skills. I haven’t had a proper job in 45 years. I mean, I guess I could put away carts in the parking lot at Walmart or Costco, or greet people and check their receipts… [but] I’ll take the goats. You mentioned the frustration over having to highlight the same problems every record. What are some of the boldest ideas that you’re putting forward with this final statement?No bolder than any other record. It’s just the same common sense shit: What the fuck are we doing as a society on this planet? Are you happy with the way we behave as a species? …But the way that we’re approaching it [on this album] is pretty different. The advent of the internet changed society big time. [AI] is that on steroids, like how we went from horses to cars, or from lanterns to electricity. Those were big deals. This is even bigger. I think one of the better solutions would almost be to fuse with AI [because] we cannot compete with AI. We have outlived our existence on this planet. We’re like locusts. We raped it of all its minerals and trashed the place. I mean, the Earth is like an Airbnb rented out to a bunch of rap or rock kids — They vomit all over, pour beer on all the furniture, trash the artwork, piss on the carpet, you know? That’s basically what we’ve done. We’ve taken a perfectly nice Airbnb and just fucked it up. Nathan Zucker AI engines have almost certainly studied all of Ministry’s music at this point. Hate to Go may well be the last Ministry album made by Al, but people could prompt to existence their own Ministry records via AI.OK, so… none of the music on this record is AI. We didn’t go that route. Because if you’re a musician of 40 years and you have to go that route, you’re either lazy or in a hospice. That was out of the question, [but] we asked [AI engines], “What do you think Ministry sounds like?” They came back with a couple things, but we were like, “This is stupid. This sounds like fuckin’ Limp Bizkit,” or something. This is what I’m saying: They have all the knowledge of the planet, but they haven’t experienced the planet. That makes them like teenagers who think they know everything, but they don’t know shit because they haven’t really been around the block yet. You know what I’m saying? There’s no algorithm for turning grief into music. They can do the math and make it sound like a facsimile of Ministry, but it’s absolutely nothing to do with us. Even their lyrics are, dare I say, sophomoric. Not that I’m fucking Shakespeare, or anything… but either we have to grow up real fast as a society or they [AI engines] have to grow up. Everyone’s looking at the skies for aliens. The aliens are right here, in our computers, on our TVs, everywhere we go. They already live amongst us… and they’re just petulant teenagers. Can you touch on the importance of having Paul Barker back with you for “We’re Still Here,” the final song on the final Ministry album?When we decided that this was it, one of the things that was pre-planned was that I wanted to get Barker back involved, and I also wanted to get Josh Bradford — a singer from RevCo — doing the videos. I wanted to give the fans a package of what we feel Ministry sounds like. Wrap it up with a bow, and then the cherries on top are bringing back some old mates to let people know there’s still hope [for the world]. There was talk about me and Barker doing the whole album together, but [we] realized that our musical paths are so different at this point. What worked in the Nineties doesn’t work now. We tried to bash around, but then I said, “Let’s stop doing this,” in the view of doing an entire album. “Let’s concentrate on one song where both of our abilities and aesthetics come into play.” That became “We’re Still Here.” The message is the same. We’ve all said we’re gonna be extinct before, but we’re still here. Nobody thought me and Barker would ever get back together either, but we’re still here! Matter of fact, not only are we still here, he lives down the road and we’re buddies now, which we never were when we were in the band. Now we hang out! There’s always hope. I wanted to leave that last song with that message, considering the maelstrom that we live in — the chaos and anarchy. There’s still hope. Nathan Zucker Early on in this record, there’s the sample of “If you don’t use your voice, you lose it,” which is a poignant statement to have on a final album. How do you reflect on what you’ve said through the broader body of Ministry, and where you’re leaving things?It’s funny you brought up that. That’s actually an Obama quote. During 2008-2012, we would have voter drives at every one of our shows. I think Ministry was responsible for over 500,000 new-time voters registering. That was a big part of us. This album is not reinventing the wheel. To me, this album is like a thank you to the fans, a greatest hits without these actually being hits yet. Like, we released the greatest hits album of Ministry without any hits. [Laughs] Like my whole career, it’s kind of ass-backwards. Was it important to go out on a heavier record like this, compared to the Squirrely Years experiment?Well, Squirrelly Years was merely a vanity project that was so much fun for us. That was the most fun I’ve ever had on a tour! I was literally grinning ear-to-ear every night. It was fun, because it was taking a lot of the anger and demons that I had in me, and the bitterness of having to make that record [1983’s With Sympathy], and then getting to own it. I made fun of it on my terms. It was brilliant for my emotional and psychological well-being to conquer that dragon that’s been over your shoulder for 40 years. At any rate, that was great. But I wanted to leave something palpable for our fans before we go, that they’ll go, “Yep, those are the lads! That’s the stuff!” Go out kicking and screaming, but with a little positivity at the end. The current lineup has been together and tight for so many years that writing these songs seemed natural. We didn’t go out of our way to do anything different. Obviously, the samples change over the years, depending on global situations, but other than that it sounds like a Ministry record with some heart. We weren’t weepy as we were doing it. It was more like, “That sounds badass, put it on there. That should have been on Psalm 69!” It was fun. There was nothing reflective or wistful about this. You know, outside of, like, a couple sessions with Barker where we just sat around and did shrooms and talked about, like, “Wow, what a weird career arc from where we started to where we are today.” We had a couple studio sessions where we didn’t record a thing! How long do you think the farewell tour will be? Will it be going past 2027?No, no, no, no… definitely not further. Our final show will be October 30th, 2027, here in L.A. Then I can just drop the mic, go home and check on my goats. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

As Ministry prepare to release final album, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery), Al Jourgensen has revealed where and when the band will play their last…

It really is coming to an end.

As it so happens, a multi-year farewell tour ala Megadeth or Sepultura is not planned.

Industrial-metal pioneer Al Jourgensen recently sat down with Lyndsey Parker and a bottle of wine at Licorice Pizza Records for a deep dive into MINISTRY's full-circle journey: from "With Sympathy", the 1982 synthpop album he disavowed for years, to "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)", MINISTRY's up...

Time’s up for industrial trailblazers Ministry as Al Jourgensen tools up for one last broadside

'Farewell, and fuck off!'

Ministry's Al Jourgensen addresses his A.I. concerns, shares his hope for the future of music and reveals his intent to herd goats.

In a new interview with Hit Parader, MINISTRY leader Al Jourgensen spoke about his decision to call it quits after the touring cycle in support of the band's final album, "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)", which will arrive on October 30 via Cleopatra Records. Asked why now is the right time for h...

Taken from their upcoming final album, Ministry's new single, Singularity, takes inspiration from the threat of AI - check it out below.

Ministry dug into their back catalog during their September 15th show with Acid Bath at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO, performing "Scarecrow" live for the first time since 2003.The track originally appeared on the indus...

Industrial metal pioneers Ministry dug deep into the back catalogue this week to deliver a moment over two decades in the making. During the band's September 15th show at Red […]

"Singularity", the latest new single from Ministry's forthcoming final studio record Hate To Go - Take Out Or Delivery, has premiered online in the form of an official music video.

Ministry have shared an official video for their new song "Singularity." That track will appear on their new album, Hate To Go – Take Out Or Delivery, which will be out on October 30 via Cleopatra Records. &nbs...