{"id":13126,"date":"2025-06-04T12:52:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T17:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=13126"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T17:33:54","slug":"ministrys-al-jourgensen-announces-the-end-of-his-iconic-industrial-band-but-first-one-last-album-and-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=13126","title":{"rendered":"Ministry’s Al Jourgensen announces the end of his iconic, industrial band. But first, one last album and tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Paul and Al 1996<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCE LA TIMES by Alex Distefano<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After wreaking havoc and dishing out dissonance since 1981 \u2014 evolving from its early synth-pop dance roots into the industrial thrash metal chaos it\u2019s best known for \u2014 Ministry’s band leader Al Jourgensen is finally ready to call it quits. He\u2019s preparing to put an end to the band’s relentless run of recording and touring \u2014 this time for good. But not before one last album and a final world tour, as \u201cUncle Al\u201d prepares to bring the band\u2019s legendary career to a close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the phone from a tour stop in Canada, he discussed Ministry\u2019s current Squirrely Years Tour \u2014 a special run of shows that focuses exclusively on the band\u2019s first two albums, “With Sympathy” and “Twitch.” For the first time in decades, Jourgensen is performing early songs \u2014 largely steeped in synth-pop \u2014 which he once dismissed, now embracing the full arc of his career. The frontman opened up about reuniting with longtime collaborator Paul Barker, the band\u2019s final album, his disdain for violent mosh pits, and why he never read his autobiography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you decide to bring Ministry to an end? Was it a process or something more abrupt?<\/strong>
Oh, it was a process. After 17 albums, I feel like we\u2019ve pushed the boundaries as far as we could go with this band. I know I\u2019ve got one more album left in me that\u2019ll stretch those limits even further. But I don\u2019t want to end up like one of those bands doing the same riffs for 40 or 50 years \u2014 it just gets old. This has been coming for a while. It\u2019s not tied to my past health issues; it\u2019s just time. After our final album comes out next year, we\u2019re doing one last world tour. Then that\u2019s it. I\u2019m done. Time to let the kids take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you\u2019re stepping away from Ministry \u2014 but are you stepping away from music entirely?<\/strong>
Not entirely. I\u2019ll still do film scores. I just did one for a documentary called “Long Knife,” about the Koch brothers ripping off the Osage Nation. It\u2019s kind of a follow-up to “Killers of the Flower Moon.” That kind of work still interests me. But being on a tour bus and constantly talking to people? I\u2019m over that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u2019s your health now?<\/strong>
I feel great. It\u2019s a gift to go out in good health and a clear frame of mind. At one point in the early 2000s, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever tour again. I had a ruptured artery in my stomach and was bleeding every day on the road. I just said, \u201cNope, this isn\u2019t worth it.\u201d But now we\u2019re wrapping everything up intentionally \u2014 bringing back people like Paul Barker, recording in old places, ending things right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve said before that you hate mosh pits. What\u2019s the energy like on this tour, especially with the older material?<\/strong>
Man, this tour is a psychedelic freakout. We\u2019re playing 40-plus-year-old songs, and somehow there\u2019s still a little bit of moshing happening \u2014 but not violent. It\u2019s cracking me up. These shows feel like a one-off trip into the past. People are just dancing and enjoying the moment. It\u2019s more like a weird, dark, electronic hippie dance party. I didn\u2019t expect to enjoy it this much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it a different mindset performing the early material versus the heavier Ministry songs?<\/strong>
Oh, hell yeah. But the fans know what they\u2019re getting into. Nobody\u2019s screaming for the \u201990s metal stuff. It feels like stepping into a hot tub time machine. We\u2019ve put real work into this setlist, and it\u2019s paid off. I\u2019m genuinely enjoying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will your final tour represent the full scope of Ministry\u2019s career?<\/strong>
Absolutely. It\u2019ll be a two- to three-hour career retrospective. We\u2019ll be covering every era \u2014 all 17 albums. We might even bring back two drummers like we did in the \u201980s. The final tour won\u2019t just be a greatest hits set \u2014 it\u2019ll be a curated journey, and maybe even feature some old friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve been open about your battles with addiction. How did that shape you?<\/strong>
Like everyone, I\u2019ve evolved. Twenty years ago, I was a different person. Now people call me \u201cUncle Al,\u201d and I like that. I\u2019ve been through enough that fewer things bother me. And the things that do matter? I\u2019m more focused on them than ever. I\u2019m grateful for all of it, even the madness \u2014 it brought me to where I am now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did music help you survive those darker times \u2014 or did it make them worse?<\/strong>
Both. Some days, it saved me. Other days, being in the music business made me want to blow my head off. It\u2019s a double-edged sword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ministry has always taken on injustice. Are you still fighting the good fight?<\/strong>
That\u2019s the irony of this tour. With everything going on in the world, this felt like the right time to step back and let people remember what joy felt like. That said, the next album will be laser-focused. I haven\u2019t stopped speaking out \u2014 if anything, I\u2019ve sharpened my aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it true you never read your autobiography, “Ministry: The Lost Gospels of Al Jourgensen?”<\/strong>
Never read it. I didn\u2019t even write it. I told stories to a\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0writer over a gallon of vodka, and their legal team cleaned it up. They handed it back to me as a finished book. The first interview I did about it, they asked, \u201cDid you read it?\u201d I said, \u201cWhy should I?\u201d Same thing with watching concert footage \u2014 I lived it. Why relive it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you think Wax Trax! Records and the early Midwest scene are overlooked in Ministry\u2019s legacy.<\/strong>
Sometimes, yeah. But real musicians know how important that era was. Wax Trax! was its ecosystem. It\u2019s wild now seeing 14- to 18-year-old goth kids in the front row, right next to 50- and 60-year-olds who were there back in the day. That\u2019s the reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the very final chapter of Ministry look like?<\/strong>
The new record will be done by Christmas and out by June 2026. Then we\u2019ll hit the road for one last world tour starting next September. Every continent except Antarctica. One year. One final ride. Then it\u2019s over. And I\u2019m good with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ministry\u2019s Squirrely Years Tour stops at the Hollywood Palladium on June 4, with support from Nitzer Ebb, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, and Die Krupps<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul and Al 1996 SOURCE LA TIMES by Alex Distefano After wreaking havoc and dishing out dissonance since 1981 \u2014 evolving from its early synth-pop dance roots into the industrial thrash metal chaos it\u2019s best known for \u2014 Ministry’s band leader Al Jourgensen is finally ready to call it quits. He\u2019s preparing to put an… Read More »Ministry’s Al Jourgensen announces the end of his iconic, industrial band. But first, one last album and tour<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13128,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13126\/revisions\/13128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}