Releasedate:   30-10-2026
Label: Cleopatra Records

After more than four decades of industrial insanity, Ministry are ending their eactive career. With Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery), mastermind Al Jourgensen delivers what is intended to be the band’s seventeenth and final studio album.

Throughout their career, Ministry have never shied away from controversy, using aggressive music, provocative imagery and outspoken social commentary to challenge their listeners. Many remarkable live shows and festival appearances are in out memories. Unsurprisingly, their farewell album is no exception.

From the opening moments of “Crickets”, Ministry sound as confrontational as ever. It’s direct and in your face. Mechanical rhythms, distorted guitars and Jourgensen’s vocals create the familiar industrial assault. “Voices of Hate” and “Clown Car” bring particularly aggressive moments, combining relentless percussion with sharp riffs to spark your curiosity. The music occasionally recalls the band’s earlier work, although the production maintains a contemporary edge.

Political commentary remains a central element as expected. Songs such as “Grifter” and “We Hate” address American politics, while “Delete” and “Singularity” explore concerns surrounding social media and artificial intelligence. Jourgensen makes his opinions abundantly clear, leaving listeners to draw their own conclusions about the messages. Musically, however, the approach is unmistakably Ministry: confrontational, abrasive and deliberately uncomfortable.

The album’s greatest strength is its energy. Even after decades of making music, Jourgensen has lost little of his ability to combine industrial machinery with aggressive metal. Yet it seems that the relentless delivery works against the material here and there. With so much emphasis on confrontation, some tracks struggle to establish a distinct identity. We would have hoped for one track that just got stuck on repeat, but we dont have one that jumps out more than others

The closing track “We’re Still Here” provides a particularly fitting conclusion, featuring the return of longtime collaborator Paul Barker. Rather than ending with a sentimental farewell, Ministry choose to acknowledge their history while remaining faithful to their uncompromising character.

Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) may not reinvent industrial metal, nor does it attempt to. Instead, it captures the essence of a band that has spent decades challenging musical and social conventions. Whether listeners agree with Jourgensen’s views or not, Ministry’s influence on industrial metal is difficult to dispute. If this truly is the final chapter, it is certainly an appropriately noisy one and surely one that highlights what Ministry stood for.

Line up:

• Al Jourgensen
• John Bechdel
• Cesar Soto
• Paul D’Amour
• Monte Pittman
• Pepe Clarke

Links:

Official
Bandcamp