After recovering from bloody stomach surgery, Al Jourgensen brings back industrial metal monolith Ministry.
Al Jourgensen of Ministry
Jourgensen, hard-living frontman for industrial legends Ministry, told Rolling Stone that he took time away from the band because of a seriously gruesome illness.
He said he was used to “puking blood” on Ministry tours, but after their ‘C-U-LaTour’, it didn’t cease when the tour did. “And then one day,” he reveals, “an artery exploded in my stomach and I flat lined. They had to defibrillate me. I went to the hospital in an ambulance, I was in seizures, I lost 65% of my blood.”
After laser surgery on his stomach, he is apparently “leading a healthier lifestyle now” and is on the verge of releasing the band’s twelfth studio album Relapse.
While Ministry have released a slew of remix and covers albums over the last few years, Relapse is the first proper studio album since 2007’s The Last Sucker.
The band have planned US and European tourdates to support the album, but after that Jourgensen is sketchy about the future of the band. He said, “I don’t have my crystal ball out, so I can’t predict the future. I’m not discounting it, I’m not counting on it.”
Sample the new tunes with the OWS-themed video to first single ‘99%’ below. Relapse comes out this week on 13th Planet Records.
