After incubating for the larger part of 2020 – at time when creative mastermind Al Jourgensen was able to ruminate on the new world we as a society have found ourselves in – the time has finally come for MINISTRY to unleash their much-anticipated 15th studio album.
Aptly titled “Moral Hygiene“, the album will be released via Nuclear Blast Records on October 1st. With some of MINISTRY’s strongest and most inspired material to date, the 10 tracks are a follow-up to 2018’s lauded “AmeriKKKant” and 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 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,” says Jourgensen of the new album. “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.”
In conjunction with today’s album announcement, the latest track ‘Good Trouble‘ is also released. The song, inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late Congressman John Lewis, is accompanied by a new video that includes sampling from last year’s demonstrations in Los Angeles as captured by Jourgensen and his partner Liz Walton.
“Moral Hygiene” also includes the previously released ‘Alert Level’ that sounded the alarms about our collective dissonance towards the pandemic, climate change and the man formerly in the White House, bolstered by the song’s overarching question posed to listeners: “How concerned are you?”
The new album also adds perspective to the countless lives that were tragically lost to the COVID-19 pandemic on the haunting track ‘Death Toll’ while ‘Disinformation’ describes the too frequent willingness to accept everything – even mistruths – as fact.
Other musical jewels on the upcoming release include a collaboration with Jello Biafra (Jourgensen’s cohort in side project LARD) on ‘Sabotage Is Sex’ and a unique take on The Stooges’ ‘Search And Destroy’ that features guitar virtuoso Billy Morrison (Billy Idol/Royal Machines). Morrison is also heavily featured on a number of songs on the album.
“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all MINISTRY albums, all songs are written and performed by Al Jourgensen. Additional contributions come from Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines), Cesar Soto (Man The Mute), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory), Roy Mayorga (Stonesour, Soulfly, Nausea), Paul D’Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and sitar player Flash.
“Moral Hygiene” will be available in CD, vinyl and digital download formats. Pre-orders are available at: www.nuclearblast.com/ministry-moralhygiene
Pre-Save the album here: http://www.nblast.de/MinistryMoralHygiene
“Moral Hygiene” track listing
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)
