Alissa White-Gluz has opened up about her biggest fear in life, saying she is terrified of death because she does not believe in anything after it. She shared these thoughts in comments made via The Downbeat Podcast.
White-Gluz explained what frightens her most about death and why her lack of belief in an afterlife shapes her outlook on mortality.
“Death. I’m terrified of death. Yeah. Thanatophobia, I think it’s called,” White-Gluz said. “I mean, I hope that our brains function in a way where you do have, like, this release of endorphins or whatever that causes euphoria right before you go, so that you can go… I hope it’s like — you know when you’re starting to fall asleep and you’re so tired and you just get that nice feeling where you’re, like, ‘Ah, I’m falling asleep. This is great’. I hope it’s that.”
She added that part of her fear comes from having to stop doing the things she loves. “The thing is we don’t know what it is. And also I like to do stuff and learn stuff and meet people and experience things, and I don’t wanna stop doing that. And so it bums me out that I will stop doing that at some point.”
White-Gluz expressed that she does not hold beliefs in an afterlife. “No, unfortunately I don’t believes in anything after death. I wish I did, but none of it makes sense to me… If I believed in something, then it would be cooler. Then I’d be, like, ‘All right, well, I’m just going on to the next phase.’ But, unfortunately for me, I really believe that it’s just that’s it.”
She went on to explain her view of human existence. “I think we are a functional body of blood and flesh and electrical impulses and nerve endings, and I think we’re amazing. I think all animals are amazing. That’s why I respect them so much. But I do think that everything that’s happening in our brains that makes us have personalities and experience the world, these are things that are happening on the basis that this physical mass of tissue and this all continues to function the way that it’s supposed to. And if it stops, I think all of that goes with it, unfortunately.”
These comments came as White-Gluz discussed her personal beliefs about mortality and what happens at the end of life.
White-Gluz is a Canadian singer born July 31, 1985, who has spent over a decade as the frontwoman of the Swedish metal band Arch Enemy. With the band, she released four studio albums and two live albums before announcing her departure on November 23, 2025. On the same day, she announced plans to launch a solo career and released her first single, “The Room Where She Died.”
In 2026, White-Gluz formed the band Blue Medusa with guitarists Alyssa Day and Dani Sophia, described as reflective of her preferences for high-energy, fast heavy music with black metal and progressive metal influences. In May 2026, the British power metal band DragonForce announced that she had joined as a second lead vocalist following a collaboration on an alternate version of their track “Burning Heart.”
