amerikkkant – SIDE-LINE

Al Jourgensen discusses inspiration for ‘Search And Destroy’ cover in new video interview

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 08:29:17 +0000

(Photo by Derick Smith) Ministry has released the music video for the new track “Search And Destroy” from the upcoming Ministry album “Moral Hygiene”, out October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. The inspiration for the song, a take on The Stooges’ hit, is explained by Jourgensen in a new video featuring Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines) who worked on the cover.

Hear Al Jourgensen discuss “Search And Destroy” in detail in the new interview video right below. And you can see the music video for “Search And Destroy” (directed by Dean Karr) right after this.

“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.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Industrial act Ministry is about to return with 15th studio album this Fall

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 15:58:16 +0000

(Photo by Derick Smith) “Moral Hygiene”, the 15th studio album by industrial act Mnistry will be released October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. As a teaser a new single and video is released for “Good Trouble”. The song is inspired by late Congressman John Lewis and the BLM protests. The new video includes sampling from last year’s demonstrations in Los Angeles as captured by Jourgensen and his partner Liz Walton.

The 10-track album is a follow-up to 2018’s “AmeriKKKant” which their first release on Nuclear Blast, and marked the longest gap between studio albums in the group’s entire career; at five years, following “From Beer to Eternity” (2013).

The upcoming release includes a collaboration with Jello Biafra on “Sabotage Is Sex” and on the cover of The Stooges’ “Search And Destroy” that features guitarist Billy Morrison (Billy Idol/Royal Machines). Morrison is also featured on a number of other songs on the album. Additional contributions come from 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.) and sitar player Flash.

“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio.

See the video for “Good Trouble” below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Ministry – Prescripture: The Visual History (Book – Melodic Virtue)

Filip Wildhoney — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 21:22:17 +0000

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, industrial-rock

Background/Info: Al Jourgensen is the charismatic pioneer, musical genius, innovator and iconic founder of the industrial-metal genre (the fusion of repeating metal guitar riffs, samples, keyboards and distorted vocals on a danceable beat). This fully authorized visual history with 248 pages of rare and unseen photos, artwork, and other stuff that spans Ministry’s entire career, shows how the band (that everyone wanted to sound like) evolved from ’80s synth-pop, over EBM/industrial to trash-metal. Ministry has been nominated six times for a Grammy award and is definitely a band you must have seen live at least once in your life!

Content: The four-pages introduction is done by Al’s good old friend Jello Biafra, explaining some hilarious anecdotes. Then this limited 9″ x 9″ casebound book is divided into six chronological chapters starting from the early Wax Trax! era (1981) until the latest release “AmeriKKKant”. We get to see lots of nice rare (promo and live) pictures, cut-outs, artwork, flyers and posters. On almost every page there are interesting quotes or anecdotes from befriended artists like Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails), Moby, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Gary Numan, Perry Ferrell (Jane’s Addiction), Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke), Phildo Owen (Skatenigs), Jeordie White (Marilyn Manson), Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten), David J (Bauhaus), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Paul D’Amour (Tool), Page Hamilton (Helmet), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Franz Treichler (The Young Gods), Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Sean Yseult (White Zombie), Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Till Lindemann (Rammstein), Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission), Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks) and many more. Just like the music of Ministry changed from soft to very hard, it is clearly shown how Al’s style has changed all over the years ending up with dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings. The author of the book is Aaron Tanner (who also created a visual history for Pixies) and features artwork from Brian Shanley and Paul Elledge.

+ + + : We get an exclusive look at Uncle Al’s personal collection of behind-the-scenes pictures together with contributions from band members past and present.

– – – : Although many well-known artists are featured in this book, some (expected ones) are missing …

Conclusion: There’s only one thing we can conclude: Ministry has had a huge influence on many artists and Al is still going strong after all these years! This book is definitely a must have for the fans!

Artist: www.ministryband.com / www.facebook.com/WeAreMinistry
Label: www.melodicvirtue.com / www.facebook.com/melodicvirtue Read the news on ‘Prescripture: The Visual History’.

About Ministry

Ministry began in Chicago in 1981 when Al Jourgensen launched the project as an outlet for new wave and synth-pop with funk and disco influences, releasing a first 12″ on Wax Trax! Records before signing to Arista for the 1983 debut album “With Sympathy”. After parting ways with Arista, Jourgensen returned to Wax Trax! for a run of 12″ singles, including “Everyday Is Halloween”, before signing to Sire for 1986’s more EBM-influenced “Twitch”. The band’s sound kept evolving toward the industrial-metal blend documented in this book, and Ministry has remained active since, releasing the 2024 album “Hopiumforthemasses” and announcing “The Squirrely Years Revisited”, a 2026 collection revisiting its early synth-pop material.

Ministry – AmeriKKKant (CD Album – Nuclear Blast Records)

Filip Wildhoney — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 21:24:54 +0000

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal Background/Info: Studio album number 14 for the pioneer of industrial-metal mastermind Al Jourgensen, an artist who doesn’t need an introduction. The first album since long without any riffs from Mike Scaccia (RIP) on it. Content: We are definitely not used to hear scratching (by DJ Swamp and Arabian Prince) and beautiful strings (by Lord Of The Cello) in a cinematic style on a Ministry album, which is the case for opener “I Know Words”, a sarcastic ode to President Donald Trump. Because of the length and the downtempo speed “Twilight Zone” (including Al on harmonica) should have been fitting well as one of the last tracks. It reminded me a bit on “Khyber Pass” from the “Rio Grande” album. It’s only at the outro of track 3, “Victims Of A Clown”, that Ministry finally pulls up the speed as we are used to hear from them on their last albums. “TV5/4Chan” is in the same style as “WTV” (from “Houses Of The Molé”), a mixture of guitar riffs and chaotic samples including shocking stuff like “… all you got to be is white in America and you get whatever you want!”. And then it’s finally time for some headbanging on the uptempo trash-metal of “We’re Tired Of It”, with Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory) on vocals followed by “Wargasm”, which reminded me vocally a bit of “Lay Lady Lay” (from “Filth Pig”). “Antifa” was the first released single and videoclip about the antifascist movement while “Game Over” is just like “Twilight Zone” a downtempo song with a repeating guitar-hook and middle-eastern style melody. On the last song “AmeriKKKa”, the singing style of Al reminded me a bit of Marilyn Manson. + + + : The violins on the first track accentuate in a nice way the sadness of the current (Trump-)era we’re living in. The sampling done by Al & Liz is amazing and the (additional) vocals of Burton C. Bell are definitely a positive thing! – – – : Not much uptempo stuff this time and no less than 3 compelling songs are longer than 8 minutes which might be just a bit too long for some people. Conclusion: This album is full of impressive sampling and is very well produced! Definitely an album you have to listen to more than once before you start to appreciate the songs, although not much new is presented. Respect for Al that he keeps protesting in his way against the current government. Best songs: “We’re Tired Of It”, “Wargasm”, “Antifa”, “AmeriKKKa”. Rate: (8) WH. Band: www.ministryband.com / www.facebook.com/weareministry Label: www.nuclearblast.de / www.facebook.com/nuclearblasteurope

Read the news on ‘AmeriKKKant’.

New Ministry video and album details!

Filip Wildhoney — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 20:57:13 +0000

“AmeriKKKant”, industrial-metal pioneers Ministry’s 14th album, will be released on March 9, 2018 for the first time via Nuclear Blast Records. The album will include guest appearances from Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, former N.W.A. member Arabian Prince, DJ Swamp and Lord of the Cello. It contains 9 songs in total of which 3 of them are longer than 8 minutes!

The new album will also be released on vinyl and can be ordered here.
Special release-packages can be ordered here.

Today the video for the first single, “Antifa”, a protest song against the current political chaos in America, was released.

Tracklist

1. I Know Words
2. Twilight Zone
3. Victims of a Clown
4. TV5/4Chan
5. We’re Tired of It
6. Wargasm
7. Antifa
8. Game Over
9. AmeriKKKa

Tourdates

March 22 – Anaheim, Calif. @ House of Blues
March 23 – Ventura, Calif. @ Ventura Theatre
March 24 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ Brooklyn Bowl
March 26 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
March 28 – Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theatre
March 29 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Vogue Theatre
March 31 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Union Hall
April 01 – Calgary, Alberta @ Palace Theatre
April 03 – Missoula, Mont. @ Wilma Theatre
April 05 – Lincoln, Nebr. @ Boubon Theatre
April 07 – Chicago, Ill. @ Riviera Theatre
April 08 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Turner Hall Ballroom
April 10 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogart’s
April 11 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ 20 Monroe Live
April 12 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Egyptian Room
April 14 – Toronto, Ontario @ Opera House
April 15 – Montreal, Quebec @ MTelus
April 17 – Boston, Mass. @ Royale
April 18 – Portland, Maine @ Aura
April 19 – Huntington, N.Y. @ Paramount Theatre
April 21 – Montclair, N.J. @ Wellmont Theatre
April 22 – Buffalo, N.Y. @ Town Ballroom
April 23 – Baltimore, Md. @ Rams Head Live
April 25 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Center Stage
April 26 – Orlando, Fla. @ Hard Rock Live
April 28 – Austin, Tex. @ Levitation Festival
August 10 – Kortrijk, Belgium @ Alcatraz Metal Festival

Ministry announces 14th album ‘AmeriKKKant’ + tour!

Filip Wildhoney — Tue, 30 May 2017 18:05:10 +0000

Industrial-metal pioneer Al Jourgensen recently announced that Ministry will release another new album in fall 2017. The album will be called “AmeriKKKant” and will be released on vinyl as well, beginning 2018. The album will include guest-artist performances of DJ Swamp (Beck), Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory), Arabian Prince (NWA) and Lord of the Cello. The current line-up of the band exists of Al Jourgensen, Sin Quirin, Cesar Soto, John Bechdel, Jason Christopher and Thomas Holtgreve. Check the Ministry backcatalogue right here. Tourdates: JUN 1 THU Piraeus Academy 117 Athens, Greece JUN 2 FRI Principal Club Theatre Thessaloníki, Greece JUN 4 SUN Barutana Belgrade, Rs JUN 6 TUE Alcatraz Milan, Italy JUN 7 WED Tvornica kulture Zagreb, Croatia JUN 9 FRI Sweden Rock Sölvesborg, Sweden JUN 11 SUN Download Festival Derby, United Kingdom JUN 13 TUE Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht, Netherlands JUN 15 THU den Atelier Luxembourg City, Luxembourg JUN 16 FRI HELLFEST Clisson, France JUN 17 SAT Graspop Metal Meeting Dessel, Belgium JUN 18 SUN Markthalle Hamburg (Altstadt), Germany JUN 20 TUE Ole Bull Scene Bergen, Norway JUN 21 WED Rockefeller Oslo, Norway JUN 22 THU COPENHELL Copenhagen, Denmark JUN 24 SAT Download Festival Madrid, Spain SEP 14 THU Douglas Park Chicago, IL SEP 15 FRI RIOT FEST CHICAGO 2017 Chicago, IL SEP 20 WED The Foundry Bar Christchurch, New Zealand SEP 22 FRI The Studio, Auckland Auckland, New Zealand SEP 25 MON Astor Theatre Perth, Australia SEP 26 TUE The Gov Hindmarsh, Australia SEP 27 WED Metro Theatre Sydney, Australia SEP 30 SAT Forum Melbourne Melbourne, Australia OCT 1 SUN The Tivoli Brisbane, Australia

Read the review of ‘AmeriKKKant’.