BEHEMOTH Frontman: 'I Follow My Own Rules'

Niclas Müller-Hansen of RockSverige recently conducted an interview with BEHEMOTH frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Tell me about the [new BEHEMOTH] album. I love the title "I Loved You At Your Darkest". What's behind it?

Nergal: "It came straight from the Bible, a quote from Jesus Christ. It started with me thinking that there was no way I could top 'The Satanist' and the genius of it. I mean, speaking of the title. It was this one-word, super-strong and a powerful statement and nothing can really compete with that. In order to follow that, I must come up with something completely different, so we said we would bring something revolutionary within our own subgenre. This title is refreshing and new and redefining and that's what it's meant to be. I'm super happy that it grew on me because I've had it in my head for a year and I wasn't entirely sure. I was, like, 'Hmmm, maybe it's risky.' But then I was also, like, 'It's risky. Let's go for it!' You know, we've got a saying in Poland, 'If you don't risk it, you never drink champagne.' So let's hope for at least a little glass afterwards. I just thought that… let's make a long story short… let's go to the source of all evil and steal this sentence and twist it around and redefine it and give it our own meaning and then just throw it back at our opponents and see how they react. Or maybe they don't. I don't give a fuck. By doing that, it's a very sophisticated blasphemy, so to say, because, obviously, I'm quite the opposite to your regular Catholic friend or whatever. I'm anti this and I'm not following their rules; I follow my own rules. I've always been about this and played with it, these black-and-white, yin-and-yang kind of meanings and symbols and these contradictions and opposites poles and extremes and when you confront them together, that's what triggers the most interesting effect. To me, when you go through the album and you listen to 'God = Dog', you get these kids versus this extreme heavy music and the kids are singing pretty controversial verses for many people. To me, that's the point. You confront the innocence of a child with a grown-up's aware statement, an anti-religious statement and that's what I find fascinating."

One of my favorite tracks on the album is "Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica". Tell me about that it.

Nergal: It's gonna be the third single or fourth single. Potentially it was meant to be the first single. It has a certain drive and it's very groovy. It's gonna be a great live song. I remember it was our obvious choice for our first single, but then we were, like, 'No, let's start with one of the most intense songs on the album. Not release something that is more radio or fan friendly.' It's easily a song that heavy metal fans will dig. That's what we are in the first place — we are an extreme radical band. A very diverse band, but this is it — it's extreme, so take it or leave it. It was cool that we went all the way and we're gonna reveal other aspects of the record later on. This song was meant to be like a middle finger to everyone and say, 'Hey, we're not gonna compromise on this record.' and this is, like, the pinnacle of not taking any compromises in our career. It's very aware and self-conscious and a very rebellious statement, but I also hope it's not done in a typical cliché heavy metal way. It's very tricky, intellectual and deep."

Read the entire interview at RockSverige.