Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody Died for 3 Minutes From Alcohol Withdrawal | Revolver

Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody Died for 3 Minutes From Alcohol Withdrawal

Singer described near-death experience that followed year-long bender
ivan moody five finger death punch GETTY 2020, Mike Lewis Photography/Redferns
photograph by Mike Lewis Photography/Redferns

In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody outlines a scary event that struck when he decided to throw in the towel on booze after an extended bender and long battle with alcoholism.

"I died!" he told the magazine. "I'd been on a bender for about two years, and I'd gone four days without drinking in an entire year! Which is ridiculous. So, for four days I locked myself inside the house, and the fourth day my daughter came over and I went to hand her a glass of water, and that's all I remember."

As established in a frequently cited study published through the National Library of Medicine, "abrupt cessation" of alcohol intake can trigger serious and even deadly seizures due to a rapid change in brain chemicals. This is apparently what affected Moody, or in his own words: "If you quit drinking without the right medications and whatever else, you will die."

"I was dead for about three and a half minutes," he recalled, "and I became part of something while I was there. I say 'there' because I was not in this shell. And for the first time in my existence, I felt peace." He also adds the experience felt like being "in a blue haze … it was very quiet and peaceful, and I remember not worrying about anything. I didn't have a unidirectional view. It was wide, and I could see and feel everything. There was no matter involved, I was pure energy, and I saw this incredibly blue light. It was the afterlife and I was on the edge."

Moody claims his daughter's presence helped bring him back from the brink, along with "two paddles on my chest," presumably those of paramedics on the scene. He and the band created a stylized depiction of the event with their video from earlier this year for "The Tragic Truth." Watch below to get a feel for Moody's experience.