Al Jourgensen, whose visage now conjures that of a Mad Max villain, is pessimistic about the future. The enduring frontman for Industrial Rock institution Ministry has long delved into the darker side of life, but his band’s last two records — 2018’s AmeriKKKant and 2021’s Moral Hygiene — take things to a new level. Both are concept albums about our current cultural climate and the rise of right-wing radicalism and its skewing of everything from the arts to media to science. Jourgensen’s interest in politics comes as no surprise (see the song “N.W.O.,” from 1992’s Psalm 69, which was critical of the United States’ involvement in the Persian Gulf War) but his all-encompassing fixation on the topic pervades nearly every moment of Ministry’s recent output.
“It’s just having any moral compass besides just thinking about yourself,” Jourgensen said in an October 2021 interview with Spin about his work’s conceptual preoccupations of late. “We’ve become not only a nation but a world full of narcissism and selfish values. There needs to be some responsibility towards your fellow earthlings in your community. The idea that empathy is uncool — just like it was uncool in the 1930s — is how fascism rose. The first thing (politicians) have to chip away at is your moral compass and your empathy. Once that’s gone, they can manipulate everything else.”
While Jourgensen has long been the only member left from Ministry’s late 1980s/early 1990s heyday, Moral Hygiene features some notable backing players: former Tool bassist Paul D’Amour; onetime Killing Joke synth/programming guru John Bechdel; and a guest appearance by Dead Kennedys’ frontman/provocateur Jello Biafra, who also teamed with Jourgensen on the side project Lard.
Yet for all the lineup changes over the years, Ministry’s sonic formula remains much the same. Like AmeriKKKant, Moral Hygiene features disorienting ambient noises (from air-raid sirens to clips of Donald Trump’s hideous utterances), industrial beats, thunderous guitar riffs and Jourgensen’s ever-menacing vocals, all of which wash over the listener like a continuous wave of mutilation. Foreboding about the future of civilization pervades, as song titles like “Alert Level,” “Disinformation,” “Broken System,” “We Shall Resist” and “Death Toll” might suggest.
Ministry’s tour-mates this time out include Stoner Rock icons The Melvins and Metal mainstays Corrosion of Conformity, all of which rose up out of an early 1980s scene that would be shocked to learn each act still exists four decades later.
The Melvins will likely draw from the two albums they released in 2021 (Working with God, which opens with “I Fuck Around,” a cover of The Beach Boys “I Get Around,” and Five Legged Dog, their first-ever acoustic record), as well as tunes from their 23 other studio efforts. They should also inject a sense of levity to the proceedings, something we can all use right about now.
Ministry, The Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity play Madison Theater (730 Madison Ave., Covington) on March 5, Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 advance and $45 at the door. Get tickets and more info at madisontheater.com.
Stay connected with CityBeat. Subscribe to our newsletters, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google News, Apple News and Reddit.
Send CityBeat a news or story tip or submit a calendar event.
