Ministry have announced their 16th album, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES, that will be out March 1, 2024 Via Nuclear Blast. (Is that “Hopium for the Masses” or “Hopium for Them Asses”? Truly hard to say.) The album features contributions from Gogol Bordello‘s Eugene Hutz, Jello Biafra, and Corrosion of Conformity‘s Pepper Keenan, as well as a cover of Fad Gadget’s protoindustrial synth classic “Ricky’s Hand.”
“Just like you or anybody else, I’m simply a passenger in this lifetime,” bandleader Al Jourgensen says of the album. “I’m watching social changes, political changes, and economic changes, and I comment on them because I do have a First Amendment right. A lot of people say artists and athletes should shut up and play ball. No, I’m on this trip too. If I see something, I say something. That reflects on where each album goes. Instead of staying sedentary and singing about broken relationships, inner turmoil, or whatever is hurting this week, I comment on what’s going on from the perspective of a fellow passenger.”
While the album’s not out for quite a while, you can listen to first single, “Goddamn White Trash” featuring Pepper Keenan, now. The video, which is directed by Dean Karr (Deftones, Korn) and pokes fun at private militia, is about as subtle as the song itself, but these are not subtle times. Watch below.
Ministry are currently on the road with Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper as part of the Freaks on Parade tour, which hits Long Island’s Jones Beach on September 9. All dates are below.
HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES
B.D.E.
Goddamn White Trash ft Pepper Keenan
Just Stop Oil
Aryan Embarrassment ft Jello Biafra
TV Song 1/6 Edition
New Religion
It’s Not Pretty
Cult of Suffering ft Eugene Hütz
Ricky’s Hand
FREAKS ON PARADE TOUR
With Ministry Opening For Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper
August 2023
24 Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
26 Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
27 West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
29 Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
30 Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
September 2023
1 Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
2 Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena
5 Clarkston, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
6 Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
8 Scranton, PA @ The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
9 Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
10 Hartford, CT @ XFINITY Theatre
12 Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
13 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
15 Bonner Springs, KS @ Azura Amphitheater
16 Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
19 Ridgefield, WA @ RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
20 Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
22 Concord, CA @ Concord Pavillion
23 Anaheim, CA @ HONDA Center
24 Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion
