Al Jourgensen of Ministry - "this last time dying really got to me"

In an exclusive interview with The Gauntlet, Ministry frontman and industrial metal pioneer Al Jourgensen talked about death. Al has become somewhat of an expert over the years having been pronounced dead three times now. When he thinks about dying the third time less than two years ago, he says "this time really freaked me out and gave me a sense of mortality. I was about twenty years younger the first time and then fifteen for the second death. Young people always think they are invincible. I was younger and shooting dope and all this other stuff. I just thought 'that was a lucky break.' I am fifty-three now and this last time dying really got to me. The first two times I had out of body experiences when I died and this time I had nothing. I was just dead. I don’t remember a thing. My spirit didn’t leave my body or nothing. They had to defibrillate me and all that stuff. I don’t remember anything. That is the part that just freaks me out the most.

"The first two times I remember floating above my body and just knowing what was going on and that I needed to get back into my body when the time came. It was a spiritual thing. The first two deaths were actually really cool and gave me spirituality and left me knowing there was an afterlife. I was just floating around the emergency room watching everyone work on my body. This time, I was just cold. That also got me motivated."

Upon leaving the hospital, Jourgensen got together with Mike Scaccia and went to work on the Buck Satan album which was released earlier this year. While doing that, the duo also laid down some metal riffs that unintentionally became the latest Ministry album, "Relapse."

"Relapse" is now on sale via 13th Planet/ AFM Records.

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Tags:  Ministry, Al Jourgensen, interviews  

Jason Fisher    March 27, 2012