Ministry have announced plans for their 13th, and most likely final, studio album. We’ve been told that previous albums from the outfit would be their last, but it looks as though it will be the case for From Beer to Eternity as the band’s guitarist Mike Scaccia passed away last year.
The 11-track album was pieced together at the 13th Planet compound in El Paso, Texas and there is already talk of releasing the first single PermaWar towards the end of July via iTunes as a three-track maxi-single. The record will be released Friday, 6th September and features the last musical efforts from Scaccia before his passing.
Speaking of the album, frontman Al Jourgensen has recalled the unity between bandmates in the studio as they discovered they were onto something special:
“We have never, in the history of Ministry, ever had a tracking session like that before. Everything went so smoothly, it was surreal. And Mikey was so on fire and inspired, and really a driving force for this record. During the tracking sessions, Mikey was smiling and going, ‘You know what, Al? This is by far and away the best Ministry album we’ve ever done together. This is awesome.’ I’m super proud of From Beer to Eternity because it’s my tribute to Mikey’s incredible talent, and I feel it honors him and all of the years we spent together making music.”
Prior to the release of the album, Jourgensen will be dropping his authorised biography Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen on Tuesday, 9th July. That will be followed up by a live DVD release Ministry: Enjoy the Quiet – Live at Wacken 2012 which you can expect Thursday, 1st August.