"Stigmata" is a song by American

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

band

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

. Written by frontman

Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is be ...

, it is the opening track and the only single released from their third studio album, 1988’s ''

The Land of Rape and Honey ''The Land of Rape and Honey'' is the third studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released on October 11, 1988, by Sire Records. This is the first Ministry album to include bassist Paul Barker and marks a departure from the ...

''. The song features distorted vocals, guitars and compressed drum machine loops. The song was an underground hit. The music video—which was said to get a regular airing on MTV—features gritty black and white machinery, gears, symbols, the band playing live,

Paul Barker Paul Gordon Barker (born February 8, 1959), also referred to as Hermes Pan, is the former bass guitarist, producer and engineer of the industrial metal band Ministry from 1986 to 2003. Prior to Ministry, Barker provided bass for the Seattle ...

on a motorcycle, strobe-like montages of eyes (which are the only elements presented in color), and what appear to be neo-Nazi skinheads. The song was said to be Ministry's "finest moment until 1992". The track was later featured in the 1990 science fiction horror movie '' Hardware'' and the 1995 Hong Kong action comedy film ''

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''. The 2017 action movie ''

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'' (taking place in 1989) features a cover of the song by

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

. The 12-inch single remix of the song was featured in the 2006 video game, ''

Tony Hawk's Project 8 ''Tony Hawk's Project 8'' is a skateboarding video game and the eighth installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in November 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, an ...

''. The song was also featured as an unlockable track in the 2009 video game ''

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''. In August 2010, the song became available for download in the ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

'' series of games. In his 2013 autobiography, ''Ministry: The Lost Gospels...'', Jourgensen writes that although "Stigmata" is one of Ministry's most popular songs, he hates it for being "too simplistic" and for its use of sampled rather than actual guitars. He wrote "Stigmata" at the last minute after realising he needed another song to complete the album.

Track listing

Personnel

Ministry

*Alain Jourgensen - vocals ("Stigmata"),

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, programming, production,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Paul Barker - bass, programming, production, engineer

Additional personnel

William Rieflin William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

- drums ("Tonight We Murder"), programming * Frank Nardiello - vocals ("Tonight We Murder"), cover painting *Brian Shanley - cover design

References

{{Authority control 1988 singles Ministry (band) songs Sire Records singles 1988 songs Warner Records singles Songs written by Al Jourgensen Marilyn Manson (band) songs Song recordings produced by Al Jourgensen