Category Archives: Cleopatra Records

Ministry Turns Political Rage Into Industrial Warfare with “We Hate”

Industrial pioneers Ministry fire another shot across the political landscape with “We Hate,” the second single from what has been announced as the band’s final studio album, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery).

Ministry Still Has Something to Say

After more than four decades of distortion, confrontation and industrial-strength provocation, Ministry is not exactly slipping quietly toward the exit.

Released August 21 through Cleopatra Records, “We Hate” finds Al Jourgensen and company once again turning political frustration into sonic ammunition. The track takes direct aim at Donald Trump and the increasingly surreal collision between American politics, personality cults, propaganda and AI-generated media.

Rather than dressing the message in subtlety, Ministry attacks it with the kind of abrasive humor and venom that has defined much of Jourgensen’s politically charged work. The accompanying video, directed by Joshua Bradford, pushes the satire even further, matching the song’s aggression with deliberately confrontational imagery.

“We Hate” follows July’s “Burned Out” and serves as the second preview of Ministry’s forthcoming final studio album, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery).

One Last Industrial Assault

Scheduled for October 30 through Cleopatra Records, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) is being presented as the closing studio chapter of a career stretching back to Ministry’s formation in Chicago in 1981.

That history has taken the band through synth-pop beginnings, the formative Wax Trax! era, industrial landmarks including Twitch, The Land of Rape and Honey and The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste, and the mainstream breakthrough of 1992’s Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and The Way to Suck Eggs.

More than 40 years later, Jourgensen apparently has no intention of becoming sentimental for the finale.

The upcoming record instead turns its attention toward the state of the world, political leadership and the social machinery surrounding it. Current Ministry members Monte Pittman, Cesar Soto, Paul D’Amour, John Bechdel and Pepe Clarke Magaña join Jourgensen on the record, while longtime Ministry figure Paul Barker returns for a particularly significant final collaboration on album closer “We’re Still Here.”

That reunion gives Ministry’s final studio statement an additional connection to the band’s past while bringing its recorded history toward a fitting full-circle conclusion.

Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) is available for pre-order in multiple physical configurations, including vinyl, CD and cassette editions, alongside digital availability. Cleopatra Records currently lists the album for an October 30, 2026 release.

Goodbye Europe 2027

The studio farewell will also extend onto the road.

Ministry has announced its Goodbye Europe 2027 tour, beginning April 2 in Utrecht and running through May 1 in Helsinki, with German industrial veterans Die Krupps appearing as special guests.

The 21-date European run will take Ministry through the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

For a band that helped drag industrial music out of the underground and into a much larger cultural arena, the farewell represents more than another touring cycle. Ministry’s evolution helped establish the vocabulary of industrial rock and metal for generations of artists that followed.

But before the machinery finally shuts down, Jourgensen is making certain Ministry gets the last word.

And judging by “We Hate,” that word is going to be loud.

“We Hate” is available now, while Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) arrives October 30 through Cleopatra Records. If this truly represents Ministry’s final studio chapter, the band appears determined to leave the same way it spent much of its career: confrontational, politically furious and completely unwilling to behave.

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Leæther Strip Celebrates Musical Influences on New Covers Collection Æppreciation IX

Claus Larsen returns with the ninth installment of his long-running tribute series, honoring queer and queer-friendly artists who helped shape his musical journey.

Industrial and EBM pioneer Leæther Strip has released Æppreciation IX, the latest chapter in Claus Larsen’s acclaimed covers series. Available now, the album continues a tradition that began in 2014, reimagining influential songs through Leæther Strip’s unmistakable blend of dark electronics, emotional intensity, and powerful production.

A Tribute to Artists Who Inspired a Generation

Unlike previous entries in the series, Æppreciation IX carries a deeply personal theme. Larsen has dedicated this installment to his favorite queer and queer-friendly artists, offering fresh interpretations of songs that have left a lasting impact on both his life and career.

The collection spans a wide spectrum of alternative and electronic music, featuring new versions of songs originally performed by artists including Peaches, Throbbing Gristle, Bronski Beat, Psychic TV, Chris & Cosey, and others. Rather than simply recreating familiar material, Larsen reshapes each track through the dark electro-industrial lens that has defined Leæther Strip for nearly four decades.

Since launching the Æppreciation series over a decade ago, Claus Larsen has used each volume to pay homage to the artists who helped shape the underground electronic scene. What began as a passion project has evolved into one of Leæther Strip’s most beloved companion series, allowing listeners to hear classic songs transformed through Larsen’s signature programming, commanding vocals, and cinematic production style.

Released on Cleopatra Records, Æppreciation IX is available digitally, on CD, and on a limited black-and-red splatter vinyl edition for collectors.

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With Æppreciation IX, Claus Larsen once again demonstrates that a great cover does more than recreate a song—it reveals new emotion, new perspective, and new life within music that inspired generations of listeners before it.

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