Ministry Premieres “Search And Destroy” Video Via Rolling Stone; Cover Of The Stooges Hit Features Guitarist Billy Morrison & Directed By Legendary Dean Karr; From “Moral Hygiene,” Out October 1

In addition to four decades of incredible original material that spawned a whole new genre of music, industrial mainstays Ministry and creator/frontman Al Jourgensen are also well known for a series of memorable cover songs from Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut” to Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay.” The newest tribute is a take on The Stooges’ “Search And Destroy” offering a uniquely slowed down tempo and Jourgensen’s guttural howl that amplifies the song’s wartime critique.

Today, Rolling Stone premieres the music video for the new single, directed by the iconic Dean Karr (Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Dr. Dre, Velvet Revolver, Rob Zombie) here: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ministry-the-stooges-cover-search-and-destroy-1214650/

See the video for “Search And Destroy” here: https://youtu.be/psHDeiXRVwQ

Featured on the song is Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines) who worked closely with Jourgensen to hone Ministry’s version, an idea they came up with after teaming up on the track in a moment of accidental kismet at the Above Ground benefit concert in Los Angeles in 2019.

Recalls Jourgensen: “We rehearsed it and the song was perfect but the show was running late and by the time we got on stage, I was in half time and singing the lyrics twice as slow. Fortunately Billy and Dave Navarro are professionals and they realized what was going on and sort of covered for me but I felt horrible. Billy thought it actually sounded really good in half-time so he came to me with the idea of going into the studio and recording it that way. And I figured I owed him one.”

For the music video, filmed in a desert wasteland in a remote part of Los Angeles where airplanes are retired, Jourgensen learned how to operate an antiquated war weapon and wore an arsenal of heavy artillery to get into character. He says, “It was the smoothest shoot I’ve ever done and one of the memories I’ll take to my grave.”

“Search And Destroy” will appear on Ministry’s upcoming 15^th studio album Moral Hygiene, which will be released via Nuclear Blast Records on October 1. With some of Ministry’s strongest and most inspired material to date, 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.

Moral Hygiene also includes the previously released “Good Trouble” (a tribute to late Congressman and Civil Rights icon John Lewis) as well as “Alert Level” that sounded the alarms about our collective dissonance towards the pandemic, climate change and the man formerly in the White House, bolstered by the song’s overarching question posed to listeners: “How concerned are you?”

Moral Hygiene was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on AmeriKKKant) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all Ministry albums, all songs are written and performed by Al Jourgensen. Additional contributions come from Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines), Cesar Soto (Man The Mute), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory), Roy Mayorga (Stonesour, Soulfly, Nausea), Paul D’Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and sitar player Flash.

Moral Hygiene will be available in CD, vinyl and digital download formats. Pre-orders are available at the follow links:

Record label preorder: www.nuclearblast.com/ministry-moralhygiene

Band preorder: https://store.ministryband.com/collections/moral-hygiene

Moral Hygiene track listing:

Ministry will be debuting the new songs live – as well as celebrating the 30^th anniversary of seminal album The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste – on the upcoming Industrial Strength Tour, kicking off on October 3 for 23 dates across the country. The trek will include special guests Helmet and Front Line Assembly.

In addition to Al Jourgensen (vocals, guitar), the touring band will include Roy Mayorga (drums), Paul D’Amour (bass), Cesar Soto (guitars), Monte Pittman (guitars) and John Bechdel (keyboards).

 3   Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater

 4   Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre SOLD OUT

 6   Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue SOLD OUT

 8   Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Riverworks

 9   Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre

10  Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre  SOLD OUT

11  Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

14  Boston, MA @ House of Blues

15  Huntington, NY @ The Paramount

16  Montclair, NJ @ Wellmont Theatre

17  Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall

19  Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle

20  Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore

21  Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live

23  Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live!***

24  Houston, TX @ House of Blues

25  San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater

28  Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren

29  Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues SOLD OUT

30  San Diego, CA @ House of Blues SOLD OUT

31  San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre

2   Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater SOLD OUT

3   Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo SOLD OUT

For tickets and more information, visit www.ministryband.com/tour.

Born in 1981 in Chicago, Ministry has been the lifetime passion project of founder Al Jourgensen, considered to be the pioneer of industrial music. In its early days, Ministry was identifiable by its heavy synth-pop material in line with the new sounds and technology that were being developed in the ‘80s. Ministry’s output began with four 12” singles on Wax Trax! Records in 1981 before the first LP With Sympathy in 1983 via Arista Records. As time progressed however, so did Ministry, quickly developing a harsher, and more stylized sound that the band soon became infamous for on seminal albums Twitch (1986), The Land of Rape and Honey (1988), and The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (1989). With the release of Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and The Way to Suck Eggs (1992), Ministry hit an all-time high in the mainstream musical realm and received its first Grammy nomination. In total, Ministry has been nominated for a Grammy award six times. Eight more albums would follow before an indefinite break in 2013, only to be unearthed again in 2018 with AmeriKKKant, continuing to reflect Jourgensen’s views on the frightening state of society and politics. Today, Ministry continues touring and recording with the brand-new 15^th studio album Moral Hygiene to be released October 1.