About Ministry

Ministry is the brainchild of [a86726]. Beginning in 1981, playing synth-pop with a strong disco influence, they released their first 12″ on [l953], before being signed to [l362] and releasing their debut “[m=7612],” in 1983. After a falling out with the label and the direction of the project, Jourgensen returned to [l953] to release a series of 12″ Singles, including “[m=213065],” which became an instant club favorite and would go on to become one of the band’s most popular songs.

Jourgensen then signed to [l27031]/[l1000] in 1985. Ministry’s second album “[m=16563],” was produced by [a4969], and had a more menacing sound reflecting Jourgensen’s interest in the international EBM (electronic body music) scene of the time. Ministry’s third album, “[m=7643],” (1988), was both a natural evolution of their aesthetic and a sharp break with previous pop tendencies and, with the arrival of [a100041] and other new members, Ministry’s sound developed into a crossover between EBM, industrial, and heavy metal. Their experimentation with heavy metal was then continued with the following “[m=7332],” (1989), where the guitar began to take on much more importance to their sound. Ministry’s breakthrough album, “[m=7376],” (1992), was a very dark, powerful, and violent album, that saw the band moving further into thrash metal while still retaining elements of industrial music and noise. The following records “[m=7396],” (1996), and “[m=7510],” (1999), showcased a much more straightforward heavy metal sound, to lower sales than previous records. The band released their first best of collection entitled “[m=292713],” (2001), and were then dropped by [l1000].

In 2003, the band then moved to [l36259] and released “[m=7543],”. [a100041] left the band in January 2004, leaving Jourgensen to put together a new line-up for “[m=16549].” After the 2004 “Evil Doer Tour,” there was yet another change in personnel with [a68599] founder [a185073] on guitar and [a22534] (who had also played in Prong and in [a=Killing Joke]) on bass. In May, 2006, Ministry released “[m=16269],” which was quickly followed by what was announced as their final album, “[m=16284],” in 2007, and a collection of covers entitled “[m=7414],” in 2008.

Despite Jourgensen’s claim that the band was over, 2010 saw another collection, mixing covers and remixes, entitled “[m=493113].” Following a serious illness, [a86726] decided to re-start the band with [a264545] and two new Ministry albums followed, “[m=422618],” in 2012 and “[m=595839],” in 2013. Scaccia’s death in 2012 had apparently brought a final, definite end to the band with the 2013 album, until early 2017 when Jourgensen began working on a new album, tentatively titled “AmeriKKKant.”