One of the most incendiary and popular tracks on Ministry’s latest album Moral Hygiene is undoubtedly “Sabotage Is Sex,” the blistering collaboration between the one-and-only Al Jourgensen and his oft-collaborator Jello Biafra, of course the great mind behind the Dead Kennedys. The two famously kickstarted their sideproject Lard in the late ‘80s, a fusion of industrial and punk, and this latest collaboration may be a hint of things yet to come.
While “Sabotage Is Sex” has been pleasing ears since Moral Hygiene was released October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records, fans now have even more to feast on with the powerhouse new video – featuring both music icons and marking the first time Biafra has ever appeared in a music video.
Created by director Joel Smith of Mad Minute Productions (previous work includes Activision, Audi, Black Eyed Peas, U2, X Games), the gritty, black-and-white video makes a number of bold statements as only Jourgensen and Biafra can about the state of society in 2022, focusing on the corruption of the powers that be, racial injustice and the infringement on the rights of Americans.
See the video for “Sabotage Is Sex” HERE: https://youtu.be/EXg8MOqbZNI
Says Jourgensen of the piece, “Jello and I have been friends and music collaborators for decades. I had no idea he’d never done a video before and I’m honored to pop that creative cherry for him on ‘Sabotage Is Sex.’ It’s crazy how tech savvy we’ve all gotten yet somehow it all seems very punk rock to shoot a video at home with just an iPhone. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a Lard video?”
Adds Biafra, “My compliments to the chef!! Not like any other Ministry video either. It’s amazing what can be done dirt cheap in your bedroom, with some kool found footage and a few clever ideas. Two phones, two takes and my work is done. Fun! I knew there’d finally come a day where I could bust out those Fez hats kids stole from their parents, and threw at Dead Kennedys on our ‘85 FrankenChrist tour.”
Ministry will debut the new songs from Moral Hygiene on the upcoming Industrial Strength Tour, kicking off March 2, alongside celebrating the 30th anniversary of seminal album The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste. In addition to Jourgensen, the full band includes drummer Roy Mayora, guitarists Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman, bassist Paul D’Amour and keyboardist John Bechdel.
Special guests The Melvins and Corrosion Of Conformity will share the stage nightly as the tour’s special guests. Due to overwhelming demand, Ministry added 13 new dates with the tour now running through April 18. The full schedule is below with tickets on sale now.
Moral Hygiene is Ministry’s 15th studio album and added to many “best of 2021” year-end lists, including Loudwire, Consequence Of Sound, Punk News and XS Rock (where it was ranked the #1 album of the year). It features some of the project’s strongest and most inspired material to date, the creative masterwork of founder and creator Jourgensen who spent the pandemic pause ruminating on the new world we as a society have found ourselves in – while pondering just what we are going to do about it.
The 10 tracks are a follow-up to 2018’s lauded AmeriKKKant and put forth Jourgensen’s societal manifesto and plea for civilization to get back to a set of standards that lives up to and embraces our humanity. Previous singles have included “Alert Level” (sounding the alarm on the state society is in), “Good Trouble” (a rallying cry to fight for human rights in homage to Civil Rights leader John Lewis), “Disinformation” (the dangers of consuming mass media without critical thinking) and “Search And Destroy” (the unique take on The Stooges classic). The latter features guitar virtuoso Billy Morrison (Billy Idol/Royal Machines) who is also heavily featured on a number of songs on the album.
Moral Hygiene is available now through Nuclear Blast Records in CD, vinyl and digital download formats at the following links:
Record label store: https://label.nuclearblast.com/ministry-moralhygiene
Band store: https://store.ministryband.com/collections/moral-hygiene
Stream Moral Hygiene here: http://nblast.de/MinistryMoralHygiene
THE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH TOUR
March 2022
2 Columbus, OH @ Express Live!
4 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
5 Cincinnati, OH @ Madison Theatre
6 Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
8 Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
9 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall
11 New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
12 Montclair, NJ @ The Wellmont Theater
13 Portland, ME @ State Theatre
15 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
16 Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Riverworks
18 Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
19 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
20 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
22 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
23 Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
24 New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore*
26 Dallas, TX @ Amplified Life
27 Austin, TX @ Emo’s
28 San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater
29 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
31 Chicago, IL @ Riviera
April 2022
1 Cleveland, OH @ The Agora
2 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
3 Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Hall
5 St Paul, MN @ Palace
6 Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
7 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
9 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10 Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
12 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
13 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
14 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
16 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
18 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
*Indicates a date The Melvins are not performing
For tickets and more information, visit www.ministryband.com/tour.
