Ministry are officially back. After taking most of last year off, Al Jourgensen and co. are delivering a new album called Moral Hygiene this fall.
The record is out on October 1 via Nuclear Blast, and it marks the band's first album since 2018's AmeriKKKant and their 15th overall. Right now, you can dip your toes in with the newly shared track "Good Trouble," which has arrived complete with a lyric video.
As a press release explains, the album aims to "put forth Jourgensen's societal manifesto and plea for civilization to get back to a set of standards that lives up to and embraces our humanity."
The Ministry leader himself offered the following:
The good thing about literally taking a year off from any social activity or touring is that you really get to sit back and get an overview of things as they are happening, as opposed to being caught up in the moment. And what I saw with how we handled several public crises — from the pandemic to racial injustice to who we vote in to lead our country — is that times are changing, and society needed to change to get away from the idea that has permeated us of take care of yourself, fuck everything else. Now more than ever we need moral hygiene. It consumed me as I wrote this album. It's not some pious term. It's what we have to return to in order to function as the human species on this planet. And I'm proud to have had such great guests on this album to help cement that message like Billy Morrison, Jello Biafra and Arabian Prince.
Following the previously shared album track "Alert Level," our latest glimpse of the album is "Good Trouble" — a politically motivated track inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late Congressman John Lewis.
"I was watching the coverage last July around Lewis' death and was in awe the next day when this entire letter from him was published in the New York Times," Jourgensen said of the inspiration behind song. "How suss was that to want to keep making progress after his death by thinking about the legacy he left. I was struck by the reflectiveness of his speech, knowing he was dying and making sure it was released because he saw trouble ahead. That is the moral hygiene of this album — we have to do something to change and I really hope we continue to act and live up to the idea of getting into good trouble for the benefit of society."
Moral Hygiene was recorded with AmeriKKKant engineer Michael Rozon at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen's home studio. Backing Jourgensen on the album are Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines), Cesar Soto (Man the Mute), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory), Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour, Soulfly, Nausea), Paul D'Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and sitar player Flash.
By the looks of things, the album will not, however, feature Sin Quirin, who left the group earlier this year amidst sexual misconduct allegations.
Ministry will be heading out on a U.S. tour this fall with Helmet and Front Line Assembly. While there are no Canadian dates, you can see the schedule here.
Moral Hygiene:
1. Alert Level
2. Good Trouble
3. Sabotage Is Sex
4. Disinformation
5. Search and Destroy
6. Believe Me
7. Broken System
8. We Shall Resist
9. Death Toll
10.TV Song #6 (Right Around The Corner Mix)
Pre-order Moral Hygiene.
The record is out on October 1 via Nuclear Blast, and it marks the band's first album since 2018's AmeriKKKant and their 15th overall. Right now, you can dip your toes in with the newly shared track "Good Trouble," which has arrived complete with a lyric video.
As a press release explains, the album aims to "put forth Jourgensen's societal manifesto and plea for civilization to get back to a set of standards that lives up to and embraces our humanity."
The Ministry leader himself offered the following:
The good thing about literally taking a year off from any social activity or touring is that you really get to sit back and get an overview of things as they are happening, as opposed to being caught up in the moment. And what I saw with how we handled several public crises — from the pandemic to racial injustice to who we vote in to lead our country — is that times are changing, and society needed to change to get away from the idea that has permeated us of take care of yourself, fuck everything else. Now more than ever we need moral hygiene. It consumed me as I wrote this album. It's not some pious term. It's what we have to return to in order to function as the human species on this planet. And I'm proud to have had such great guests on this album to help cement that message like Billy Morrison, Jello Biafra and Arabian Prince.
Following the previously shared album track "Alert Level," our latest glimpse of the album is "Good Trouble" — a politically motivated track inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late Congressman John Lewis.
"I was watching the coverage last July around Lewis' death and was in awe the next day when this entire letter from him was published in the New York Times," Jourgensen said of the inspiration behind song. "How suss was that to want to keep making progress after his death by thinking about the legacy he left. I was struck by the reflectiveness of his speech, knowing he was dying and making sure it was released because he saw trouble ahead. That is the moral hygiene of this album — we have to do something to change and I really hope we continue to act and live up to the idea of getting into good trouble for the benefit of society."
Moral Hygiene was recorded with AmeriKKKant engineer Michael Rozon at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen's home studio. Backing Jourgensen on the album are Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines), Cesar Soto (Man the Mute), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory), Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour, Soulfly, Nausea), Paul D'Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and sitar player Flash.
By the looks of things, the album will not, however, feature Sin Quirin, who left the group earlier this year amidst sexual misconduct allegations.
Ministry will be heading out on a U.S. tour this fall with Helmet and Front Line Assembly. While there are no Canadian dates, you can see the schedule here.
Moral Hygiene:
1. Alert Level
2. Good Trouble
3. Sabotage Is Sex
4. Disinformation
5. Search and Destroy
6. Believe Me
7. Broken System
8. We Shall Resist
9. Death Toll
10.TV Song #6 (Right Around The Corner Mix)
Pre-order Moral Hygiene.
