Ministry announce new album ‘Moral Hygiene’

July 10, 2021 James Weaver

MINISTRY have announced a new album!

Titled Moral Hygiene, the upcoming album from the American industrial metal band is the follow-up to 2018’s AmeriKKKant and is scheduled to be released in October this year, via Nuclear Blast Records.

The upcoming album was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on AmeriKKKant) at Scheisse Dog Studio, band mastermind Al 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 [STONE SOUR, SOULFLY, NAUSEA], Paul D’Amour [TOOL, FEERSUM, ENNJIN], Arabian Prince [N.W.A], Jello Biafra [DEAD KENNEDYS] and sitar player Flash.

Speaking about the upcoming album album, band mastermind Al Jourgensen says, “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.”

Alongside the announcement of the new album, the band have released a new song lifted from the upcoming album; Good Trouble. The new song was inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late US Congressman John Lewis and is the second to be lifted from the upcoming album, following on from Alert Level, which was released back in April last year.

Speaking about the new song, Jourgensen says, “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. 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.”

Watch the official lyric video for Good Trouble here: