Al Jourgensen's Surgical Meth Machine signs deal

Al Jourgensen has inked a record deal with Nuclear Blast for his new band Surgical Meth Machine.

The speed metal outfit will be joining metal greats such as Slayer, Behemoth and Lamb Of God on the independent record label.

Surgical Meth Machine’s self-titled debut album was recorded at Jourgensen’s home studio in Burbank, California with longtime engineer Sam D’Ambruoso. The frontman had been eyeing last September for release, but the band has pushed the date back to later this year.

The 57-year-old says of the release: “There’s a couple of real poppy things on there, which brings me full circle, because, literally, I don’t give a fuck anymore.

“So I’m actually almost acknowledging that first horrible pop record I did in 1983. I’m crooning on some songs, I’ve got some pop songs on there, and then there’s just brutal assault for the rest of it.

“It’s a very dichotomous record, but it’s me, and I’m acknowledging everything that’s been me through, like, the last 35 years. Let’s just throw my balls on the table and hope somebody doesn’t have a meat cleaver running.”

In 2013 the vocalist confirmed Ministry’s 13th album From Beer To Eternity would be their last after the death of his guitarist and friend Mike Scaccia in 2012 – while the band were still recording the album.

The 47-year-old axeman was performing at a 50th birthday show for Rigor Mortis singer Bruce Corbitt on December 23, 2012. He collapsed on stage due to a heart attack and died in hospital shortly after.

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.