The passing of the late Congressman John Lewis on July 17, 2020 had a profound impact on Ministry creator Al Jourgensen and inspired the new song “Good Trouble”, at term often associated with the lifelong social activist work of the late Congressman who was monumental in the Civil Rights movement.

Today, in honor of one year since his passing, Ministry shares the new “Unity Mix” of the song that features N.W.A.’s Arabian Prince and guitarist Cesar Soto. This unedited version is meant to bridge the gap between Black and White and be a unifying call to arms to keep the fight for what’s right moving forward.

Find the video on the band’s social media accounts:

- Facebook
- Twitter
- Instagram

Says Al Jourgensen of the intent behind the song, “If you look at the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it took 100 years to actually make the unwritten Jim Crow laws of segregation illegal. And it’s now taken another 50 years to bring these issues to the forefront of consciousness again. Seeing the grassroots movements springing up in 2020 and continuing today, coupled with the legacy and loss of John Lewis, I thought it was time to put a voice to that. Human beings deserve the right to be human beings and seeing this massive groundswell fighting for equal rights inspired this song.”

Arabian Prince adds, “"Working with Al is always a blast, but this song is special as the powerful message must be magnified and spread across the globe. Just to read the words of John Lewis on video will be something I will remember forever. Thanks Al for allowing me to bless this song.”

Cesar Soto also says, “All the riffs that you hear in ‘Good Trouble’ were inspired by a reconnection that I’ve had not only with myself, but a reconnection with the universe through sobriety. Mix that with a country that was falling apart during a pandemic, and a home studio, and you have a winning formula and endless riffs. The song definitely means a lot to me and I can connect with it because I am a product of racial inequality. Being Latino, I’ve dealt with racism and still deal with racism, so I have a strong connection with the song.”

The special Unity Mix of “Good Trouble” is only available to watch/share on Ministry’s socials and will not be appearing on the upcoming Moral Hygiene release. It’s intended solely to be a tribute to the work, the legacy, and the words of John Lewis.

After incubating for the larger part of 2020 - at time when creative mastermind Al Jourgensen was able to ruminate on the new world we as a society have found ourselves in - the time has finally come for Ministry to unleash their 15th studio album.

Aptly titled Moral Hygiene, the album 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.

"The good thing about literally taking a year off from any social activity or touring is that you really get to sit back and get an overview of things as they are happening, as opposed to being caught up in the moment. And what I saw with how we handled several public crises - from the pandemic to racial injustice to who we vote in to lead our country - is that times are changing, and society needed to change to get away from the idea that has permeated us of take care of yourself, fuck everything else. Now more than ever we need moral hygiene,” says Jourgensen of the new album. “It consumed me as I wrote this album. It’s not some pious term. It’s what we have to return to in order to function as the human species on this planet. And I'm proud to have had such great guests on this album to help cement that message like Billy Morrison, Jello Biafra and Arabian Prince.”

In conjunction with today’s album announcement, the latest track “Good Trouble” is also released. The song, inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late Congressman John Lewis, is accompanied by a new video that includes sampling from last year’s demonstrations in Los Angeles as captured by Jourgensen and his partner Liz Walton. Watch a lyric video below.

Jourgensen adds about the new single, "I was watching the coverage last July around Lewis’ death and was in awe the next day when this entire letter from him was published in the New York Times. How suss was that to want to keep making progress after his death by thinking about the legacy he left? I was struck by the reflectiveness of his speech, knowing he was dying and making sure it was released because he saw trouble ahead. That is the moral hygiene of this album - we have to do something to change and I really hope we continue to act and live up to the idea of getting into good trouble for the benefit of society."

Moral Hygiene also includes the previously released “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?”

The new album also adds perspective to the countless lives that were tragically lost to the COVID-19 pandemic on the haunting track “Death Toll” while “Disinformation” decries the too frequent willingness to accept everything - even mistruths - as fact.

Other musical jewels on the upcoming release include a collaboration with Jello Biafra (Jourgensen’s cohort in side project LARD) on “Sabotage Is Sex” and a unique take on The Stooges’ “Search And Destroy” that features guitar virtuoso Billy Morrison (Billy Idol/Royal Machines). Morrison is also heavily featured on a number of songs on the album.

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 (Stone Sour, 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 on CD, vinyl and digital download formats. Pre-orders are available at the follow links:

- Record Label Pre-Order
- Band Pre-Order

Moral Hygiene tracklisting:

"Alert Level"
"Good Trouble"
"Sabotage Is Sex"
"Disinformation"
"Search and Destroy"
"Believe Me"
"Broken System"
"We Shall Resist"
"Death Toll"
"TV Song #6" (Right Around The Corner Mix)

"Good Trouble" lyric video:

"Alert Level" (Quarantined Mix) lyric video:

Ministry will be debuting the new songs live - as well as celebrating the 30th 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).

Tickets and more information here.