After 45 years of making music that has rarely been content to simply sit quietly in the corner, Ministry is apparently going out the only way it really could: angry, loud, sarcastic and ready to pick a fight. The band has released “We Hate,” the latest single and video from what is being billed as its final studio album, Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery). Due October 30 through Cleopatra Records, the album is intended to close the book on Ministry’s long, chaotic run and “We Hate” makes it pretty clear that Al Jourgensen still has plenty on his mind before the curtain falls.

Watch “We Hate”

The track also has a deliberately theatrical quality. One of the song’s strangest and funniest touches comes in the chorus, which is sung in German. Translated into English, the refrain essentially labels its target a pig, moron, thief and scumbag. It’s blunt, ridiculous and completely in keeping with Ministry’s sense of humor. And then things get even weirder. Rather than presenting a traditional performance video, “We Hate” uses its imagery to amplify the song’s target and its sense of ridicule. The visuals feel intentionally excessive, fitting a song that is essentially asking: if political culture has become this bizarre, why not make the satire just as bizarre?

That approach also makes sense for Ministry at this particular point in its career. This isn’t a band introducing itself. It’s a band looking back on 45 years of making noise and deciding there is no reason to become polite suddenly. And while “We Hate” is certainly angry, it is also funny in that very Ministry way, the kind of humor that comes with a raised middle finger attached.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat