Ministry formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1981, by singer, producer and multi- instrumentalist, Al Jourgensen. releasing their debut With Sympathy in 1983. By the end of the 1980s Ministry had morphed from their original synth-pop sound to become pioneers of industrial metal.
Four classic albums from Ministrys time at Sanctuary imprint Mayan for fans of Nine Inch Nails and White Zombie
2002s Sphinctour captured their live sound across a series of dates on their 1996 tour to support the Filth Pig album; recorded straight to DAT tape from the mixing desk, without any further mixing or studio trickery. Al Jourgensen was joined on this tour by long-time Ministry collaborator Paul Barker on bass, Reynolds Washam on drums, Duane Buford on keyboards, Zlatko Hukic on guitar and Louis Svitek on guitar. The 11-track live album includes Psalm 69 from the Elyse Montmartre in Paris, Just One Fix taken from the famed Aragon Ballroom in their hometown of Chicago and NWO at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
Animositisomina from 2003 was their eighth studio record, and first studio set for Sanctuary/Mayan, and features nine original tracks, plus a cover of Magazines The Light Pours Out of Me, and was the last album to feature Paul Barker.
Their ninth album, Houses Of The Mol saw the band move away from a purely industrial sound to a more thrash metal style. Anti-George Bush in theme, Ministry mainstay Al Jourgensen saw it as something of a rebirth, being the first for some years to not feature Paul Barker.
The bands final release for the label was 2005s remix compilation, Rantology which included one new track, The Great Satan, which is joined by unique updated mixes of Ministry classics NOW, Stigmata and Jesus Built My Hotrod, featuring the Butthole Surfers Gibby Haynes.