Ministry w/ Special Guests: Die Krupps - Hate to Go - Goodbye Europe

Eine Veranstaltung der Reihe Ministry - Hate to Go - Goodbye Europe

HATE TO GO 2026

Attention planet Earth: Ministry visionary Al Jourgensen is leaving the building.

With a history built upon 17 studio albums, 8 live releases, 6 side projects, multiple touring campaigns across 5 continents, an autobiography, 2 documentaries, the administration of last rites no less than 3 times, and the countless numbers of devoted acolytes and fans, the aural and charismatic magus of Ministry is boarding up the door in his psychic studio for the final time. Fortunately, Jourgensen is leaving us with one final sonic salvo: The final Ministry LP, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) that enters the world October 30 via Cleopatra Records. Expect pointed commentaries, the return of longtime associate Paul Barker and adventures in Ai, all delivered with the patented whiplash urgency listeners have come to recognize, respect, and break the occasional bone over.

It’s been a long time coming for Jourgensen, whose musical sojourn found him in dalliances from punk (his late-’70s band Special Affect) to polished electro-pop (1983’s With Sympathy) to complete immersion into hammering industrial (1986’s Twitch) before redefining the post-punk axis (1988’s The Land Of Rape And Honey) and successfully adding the suffix “-rock” to industrial’s relentless noise avalanche (1992’s Psalm 69) to create an entire new genre and foment a nation of dedicated fans. But with the release of Ministry’s 17th album, Jourgensen is comfortable calling it a career.

“I absolutely love it,” says Jourgensen about the end of Ministry and his career coming to a close. “There’s not going to be a moment where I suddenly think, ‘Wait! I got some ideas, I'm going to do another Ministry record.’ I'm fucking done. I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I'm amazed at the path that it's taken, from With Sympathy to where we're at today, and all points in between. It's been quite a ride, but I'm completely at peace with the fact that it’s done. It’s time to herd goats.”

Hate To Go started taking shape in 2025 in Jourgensen’s home studio with engineers Justin Leeah and Michael Rozon navigating the proceedings alongside “Uncle Al.” Aided and abetted by his longtime touring band—guitarists Monte Pittman and Cesar Soto (who have further upped their game as both co-composers and murderous soloists), bassist Paul D’ Amour, sampler/synth op John Bechdel and drummer Pepe Clarke Magaña—Jourgensen pulls no punches when it comes to the state of the nation or the rage that he’s cultivated throughout his career. The days where he’d have his vocals buried under punishing distortion ended long ago. Today, he readily admits a willingness to be a megaphone. And for good reason.

“Nothing, nothing has changed,” he says with a tinge of frustration. He came upon this realization while trying to determine set lists for Ministry’s final tour. “I'm looking at 55 songs trying to get everything together so everyone knows what to rehearse. I'm listening to my storyline here, and it's pretty much the same thing 40 years later. There are a few exceptions—With Sympathy, Filth Pig and Dark Side of the Spoon—but the rest of them are pretty much the same political messages we've had going on for 35, 40 years.” He pauses to consider the epiphany. “It's disheartening, but at least I stuck to it.

From being evacuated out of Cuba in his youth to the hardline realities and warnings he’s evoked on such records as Ministry’s mid-2000’s “Bush trilogy” (Houses Of The Mole, Rio Grande Blood and The Last Sucker), Amerikkkant and Moral Hygiene much later on, it’s abundantly clear that Jourgensen isn’t fronting anything toward the state of all nations. “I've been saying the same thing for 30 years and nothing's ever changed,” he continues. “Throughout history, people have said the same thing—nothing's ever changed, nothing ever changes—they just find a new way to spin it. So in that sense, [writing Hate To Go] was frustrating. But on the other hand, it was fun knowing that this was our last record, so we could go down swinging. It's like, ‘Fuck you, we're over this.’

“You know eventually the economy is going to completely crash, governments are going to crash and tech is going to take over. The world is really at a tipping point right now, but you can't say good old Uncle Al didn't talk about this shit for over three decades. So if you still haven't gotten it by now, then just so you know, I'm preparing for the worst. If you want to be oblivious to your surroundings, by all means do it. But Ministry won't go down without taking a few swings.”

While you’ll find some of Ministry’s best work on Hate To Go, there’s some added resonance in the mix. “Crickets” immediately throws down the ultimatum to the nation to take your country back from bro-dude oligarchs and career politicians, with no uncertain t