Ministry

Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded in Chicago in 1981 by Al Jourgensen. Beginning as a synth-pop act on Arista Records, Ministry underwent a radical transformation in the mid-1980s toward abrasive, distorted industrial metal — a combination of heavy metal guitar, sampled noise, and Jourgensen's shouted vocals. The Land of Rape and Honey (1988) and Psalm 69 (1992) on Sire/Warner are foundational records of industrial metal and alternative metal. Jourgensen's politics — anti-Reagan, anti-Bush, anti-war — were central to the work, particularly in the Lard project and subsequent albums. Ministry has continued with shifting membership, Jourgensen remaining the sole constant.