The lineup for the trek consists of frontman (and sole remaining original member) Al Jourgensen, guitarists Tommy Victor and Sin Quirin, keyboardist John Bechdel and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, with Static X's Tony Campos taking over at bass for the late Paul Raven, who suffered a fatal heart attack in Switzerland last month. Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell will join the band as "special featured artist," according to a press release, while Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah and US thrash artists Hemlock will hold down opening support for the tour, which should pick up a few extra guests along the way.

"A Ministry tour is a traveling circus," Jourgensen said in a recent press statement. "When we roll into town, everyone hides their daughters, but the freaks roll out the red carpet and a friend or two pops up on stage to add some spice and mayhem to the show.

"We never know who's gonna walk through the dressing room door at sound check. We rehearse a bunch of 'extra' songs just in case so-and-so shows up ..."

The band will leave a pair of presents for fans before walking out the door: last September's "The Last Sucker," and an album of covers, "Cover Up," which hits stores April 1.

"The Last Sucker" completes the band's recent trilogy of explicitly anti-George W. Bush albums, which began with 2004's "Houses of the Mole" and continued last year with "Rio Grande Blood."

"Cover Up," recorded last year with an all-star cast of industrial and alternative rock players, features cover versions of a variety of classics, including The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb," The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," Deep Purple's "Space Truckin'" and T-Rex's "Bang a Gong."

"We don't just bitch about Bush and global oligarchies," Jourgensen said in a press release. "We're still a rock band and 'Cover Up' is THE Ministry party album."