Regimes rise and fall. Stars shine and fade. Trends come and go. MINISTRY lives on. The six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated multiplatinum juggernaut founded and fronted by Al Jourgensen has seeped through the darkest corners of popular culture and infected the mainstream for over four decades, gleefully spewing sonic bile between the cracks of the system’s facade. Born in the eighties, they survived the nineties, weathered the turn-of-the-century, and even held on through a Goddamn pandemic. However, MINISTRY shows no signs of stopping or slowing down—even for a breath. Instead, the band—”Uncle Al,” John Bechdel [keyboards], Monte Pittman [guitar], Cesar Soto [guitar], Roy Mayorga [drums], and Paul D’Amour [bass]—cranks out another blast of anthemic industrial metal on its 2023 opus and sixteenth full-length LP, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES [Nuclear Blast]. The guitars rip, the drums rumble, and Al’s as righteously cantankerous as ever about a fucked up world ripe for a boot up its ass.

They kept going though, running right into what would become HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES with the force of a runaway freight train. Conducted by Al, that train was powered by the strength of the collective—a first for MINISTRY in over two decades and a callback to seminal albums.

MINISTRY introduce HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES with the single ‘Goddamn White Trash.’ On the track, synths pulsate beneath a robotic sample punctuated by a plea, “We need your help.” A grimy riff snakes around propulsive percussion, kicking the door down for a hypnotic hook and the groan of a wah-drenched solo. Then, there’s ‘Just Stop Oil.’ A staccato rhythm underlines the venomous verses as Al ponders, “Who is the driver of the coming disaster?” In true Ministry fashion, the distortion bleeds into unexpected surf guitar. ‘Big Dick Energy’ hinges on a stomping chant and trudging guitar groove as Al bemoans, “Toxic little man with a toxic little plan.” Elsewhere, chaotic riffing sets the tone for the cataclysmically catchy ‘New Religion.’ As guitars crash, Al repeats a lament like a prayer, “That’s just not right.”

In the end, MINISTRY have a lot of gas left in the tank, and Al’s going to ride out the shitstorm with us a little bit longer.