Ministry Announce Release Date For 'Relapse' + Studio Report Available On Video!

Ministry is without a doubt the band to blame for the rise of Industrial Metal in the early 80s. The band was formed in 1981 in Chicago, Illinois by singer Al Jourgensen. In 2008, after 17 years of musical madness, Ministry decided to call it quits and were joined by Swedish Metal machines Meshuggah for a North American farewell tour.

After only three years apart, the band decided to reunite and have already announced some US dates for 2012 (tourdates below)! They have also announced that they will be performing at these years edition of "Wacken Open Air" in Wacken, German (August 2-4, 2012). Now, Ministry has announced that they are unleashing their 12th studio album, "Relapse", on March 30, 2012, via Al Jourgensen's (singer) Planet Records. Here is what Jourgensen told Metal Hammer magazine about the reformation of Ministry.

"While I was working on the Buck Satan record, me and Mike Scaccia from Rigor Mortis fucked around to pass the time and we had like, 5,6,7 songs and I didn't really want to do anything with them but Mikey was like, 'Dude, these songs are awesome.' They weren't country, they were more like Ministry. So he's coming by in September and guitarist Tommy Victor from Prong is coming by in October with bassist Tony Campos from Soulfly (ex-Static X) and we're gonna finish up another Ministry album by Christmas called 'Relapse'.

"We've only got five songs to go. I've been listening to it the last couple of weeks and I wasn't really in the mood, I was just taking it as a joke. Just to pass the time at first but Mikey's raving about it. It's like, dude c'mon, this is not about Bush, so… that parts over. The ulcers are gone and Bush is gone so it's time for something new. I think this is actually gonna wind up being the fastest and heaviest record I've ever done. Just because we did it as anti-therapy, therapy against the country music we would just take days off and thrash faster than I've done in a long time, faster than Mikey's done in a long time. He just did a Rigor Mortis tour and said it was easy compared to this Ministry stuff so it's gonna be brutal and it's gonna freak a lot of people out."

US Tour-dates:

- June 17, 2012 Denver Ogden Theatre
- June 21, 2012 Los Angeles Club Nokia
- June 23, 2012 New York Best Buy Theater
- June 28, 2012 Chicago The Vic Theatre
- June 29, 2012 Chicago The Vic Theatre

These will be the only US dates of the 2012 Relapse Tour, so get your tickets now!

There is also be the chance to grab special VIP tickets!

Ministry is:

- Al Jourgensen
- Mike Scaccia
- Tommy Victor
- Tony Campos
- John Bechdel
- Aaron Rossi

Studio albums

- With Sympathy (1983)
- Twitch (1986)
- The Land of Rape and Honey (1988)
- The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989)
- Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992)
- Filth Pig (1996)
- Dark Side of the Spoon (1999)
- Animositisomina (2003)
- Houses of the Molé (2004)
- Rio Grande Blood (2006)
- The Last Sucker (2007)
- Relapse (2011)

Related links:
Tickets for Ministry's Relapse Tour
Ministry's Official Site