Bill Rieflin, the thunderous drummer who made his name in Chicago’s late-’80s/early-’90s industrial scene pounding out beats for Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Pigface and more before manning the kit for R.E.M. over the last eight years of that band’s career, died on Tuesday of cancer, according to former bandmates. He was 59.
Ministry will celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste this summer by recreating that album’s famed tour, enlisting original opener KMFDM and fellow heavyweight Front Line Assembly — and possibly a chained-link fence — for the Industrial Strength Tour. Full dates right here.
Hot on the heels of the well-received Wax Trax! Records documentary comes a broader look at Chicago’s role in the development of industrial music in the 1980s and ’90s, a film that backers are hoping fans of the genre can help get completed via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Watch the trailer right here.
Ministry performed the first of six special Record Store Day-related sets in Chicago on Saturday night, with frontman Al Jourgensen enlisting old bandmate Chris Connelly to help perform what was billed as a “Wax Trax!-era” set that largely focused on the band’s late-’80s, early-’90s albums. Video and setlist here.
As we reported last month, Vans is sponsoring a half-dozen special Record Store Day-related screenings of the “Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records” in April that will include a panel discussion and a “Wax Trax!-era” live set by Ministry. And many of you have asked how to get tickets.
To celebrate the Record Store Day release of the “Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records” documentary and its soundtrack, Vans will sponsor a half-dozen screening events in North America that will include a panel discussion and a “Wax Trax!-era” live set by Ministry.
Ministry is wrapping up its fall tour with concerts last night and tonight in Los Angeles, and has pulled out something of a shocker: Al Jourgensen brought Chris Connelly and Dave Navarro onstage last night to perform “(Everyday Is) Halloween” in concert for the first time in more than 30 years.
Chris Connelly re-joined Ministry on stage in Chicago tonight for the first time in 15 years, reprising his memorable vocal to “So What” alongside Al Jourgensen in a performance that the band streamed live on Facebook — and which you can watch in its entirety right here.
Industrial-metal giants Ministry this week announced they’ll release AmeriKKKant, their 14th studio album, in March, then hit the road for a 26-date North American tour to promote the record — which is preceded by first single “Antifa,” the music video for which you can watch right here. Check out the full tour dates, too.
Ministry will support the release this fall of its 14th studio album AmeriKKKant by co-headlining a U.S. tour with electro-industrial hip-hop duo Death Grips, a trek that will open Oct. 13 in Worcester, Mass., and keep the two groups on the road through Nov. 11 in Dallas, Texas. See full dates here.
Ministry has released a new live album on Bandcamp — with a vinyl edition following in September — that, while not advertised as such, is taken from the same 1990 concert that spawned the six-song In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up live album and companion home video release.
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