BEHEMOTH Frontman Is 'In Great Spirits' Following Leukemia Diagnosis

Bassist Orion (real name: Tomasz Wróblewski) of Polish bands BEHEMOTH, VESANIA and BLACK RIVER was interviewed on the September 23, 2010 edition of "Radioactive Metal". You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. (Note: The Orion interview begins around the 24-minute mark.)

"Radioactive Metal" is broadcast on Pure Rock Radio Thursday evenings at 8:00 p.m. EST.

When asked about the current condition of Adam "Nergal" Darski, the 33-year-old guitarist/vocalist from BEHEMOTH, who was recently diagnosed with a life-threatening form of leukemia, a cancer of blood-forming tissues of the bone marrow, Orion said, "Well, he's [been] in great spirits since the very beginning of this whole situation. His attitude is... well, just positive. The way he's behaving is like he had a flu; it just takes a little longer to heal. So he's still in the hospital. He's undergoing chemotherapy and it's gonan take another few months for all these chemos. Then there is a bone-marrow transplant possible either at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year, but we still don't have a donor for him. So we're still encouraging people to register in all these bone-marrow banks. But he's doing great. We're all 100 percent sure that he's gonna go through it stronger than ever. All I can do is just cross fingers. And we're still in touch. He's not, like, separated from the people; we see each other, we talk on the phone, he's all the time working and sitting in front of the computer. So he's doing what he was always doing besides being on tour. So he's working with the band and his attitude is great and he's in good spirits."

Darski is currently receiving treatment in the hematology division of Gdansk Medical University Hospital in Poland and has already undergone his first round of chemotherapy and other procedures while waiting for a donor with complementary bone marrow. Those who wish to help Darski and others suffering from leukemia should set up a marrow drive or register to be a bone marrow donor. Every person that registers to be a donor increases the chances of survival for Darski and others suffering from the same illness.

"If you know the history of BEHEMOTH you know we achieved everything by hard work and a steely determination," Nergal previously said in a statement. "The same goes for my private life. I happen to be a strong son of a bitch. I have no faith but rely on a 100 percent victory and I am sure I will get out of it stronger than ever. Sun Tzu in his 'Art of War' said that if you know your enemy and yourself the result of a thousand battles will not surprise you ... I enter the ring with this Nietzschean attitude and I will leave it as a winner, as usual. Just watch and see."

BEHEMOTH will release a three-disc DVD titled "Evangelika Heretika" in November. "It's a real encyclopedia of BEHEMOTH with nearly five hours of material and a bonus audio CD," Nergal said. "Expect an experience of visual madness as we went to hell and back to make it."

In addition, early next year Metal Blade will reissue BEHEMOTH EPs with new art work, bonus tracks, liner notes and more. "As you can see, despite a complicated situation and difficult circumstances we're remaining active wherever we can," Nergal said.