Those thinking that Ministry’s new album Relapse means that the industrial metal group is back for good better think again. That’s because frontman Al Jourgensen has been making it clear in numerous interviews that Ministry is completely finished after the release of Relapse and upcoming tour.
Most recently, Jourgensen reaffirmed his stance on Ministry’s future during an interview with Full Metal Jackie. You can read excerpts and listen to audio of the interview over at Blabbermouth, but after admitting that he hates touring, Jourgensen said the following:
“So I keep myself busy, but seriously, Ministry is done. There’s no way I would have done this record without Mike Scaccia [guitarist], like, psycho-dialing me every day. [Laughs] I’m glad he did it, but I like to do film scores and production now. I think I’ll do one more Buck Satan record only because it’s already almost done, I’m almost done with it, I’ve got eight songs written lyrically and everything else but other than that, I really like the studio part, the production part but I hate the touring part because the touring part makes me a total stoner drunk and I’m trying to stay healthy.”
It would be easier to believe that this really is Ministry’s last hoorah if it wasn’t for the fact that Jourgensen pretty much said the same thing about 2007’s The Last Sucker and 2008’s Cu-U-LaTour North American tour. Fast forward to 2012, and now we have a new Ministry album coming out along with a handful of dates. Granted, Jourgensen does admit that he wouldn’t have recorded a new Ministry album without guitarist Mike Scaccia pushing him to. And so far he’s keeping true to his word that the band will only play five shows in the U.S. this Summer (with over 20 other dates around the world).
So is this really the end for Ministry? It’s quite possible, but we wouldn’t be surprised either way. Relapse will be released on March 26 via AFM Records.
