Ministry

A pioneer of industrial rock and metal, Ministry was formed in Chicago in 1981 around singer and multi-instrumentalist Al Jourgensen, who is the band’s driving force. Originally a synth-pop group on the Wax Trax! label, the band’s signing with Arista Records led to the recording of their debut album With Sympathy (1983). After a second, similar album, Twitch (1986)—which brought Ministry into the Warner Bros. fold via the Sire label—the addition of Paul Barker (bass, keyboards, programming) and Bill Rieflin (drums, keyboards, guitar) changed the game, and in 1988, The Land of Rape and Honey earned the band its first gold record, as did The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste the following year. Buoyed by the success of the single “Jesus Built My Hotrod”, Ministry established itself as the leader of industrial metal with its seminal album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992), an internationally acclaimed album that peaked at No. 27 in the U.S. Headlining festivals, Ministry achieved its best commercial performance with the follow-up album Filth Pig (1996), which peaked at No. 19, while the disappointing sales of Dark Side of the Spoon (1999) marked the end of their contract with Warner. Despite the controversies, escapades, and various addictions of its frontman—who had entered a rehabilitation program—the band reunited to record Animositisomina (2003), followed by Barker’s departure in 2004. That same year, Ministry launched an attack on the U.S. presidency with the first installment of a trilogy, Houses of the Mole, followed by Rio Grande Blood (2006) and The Last Sucker (2007). On October 20, 2007, the death of bassist Paul Raven marked the end of a chapter that concluded with a three-year hiatus, until the comeback album Relapse (2012), which was followed by the passing of guitarist Mike Scaccia, who had appeared on From Beer to Eternity (2013). What the singer considers to be Ministry’s “last album” is nevertheless followed by AmeriKKKant (2018), Moral Hygiene (2021), and Hopiumforthemasses (2024).