BEHEMOTH Frontman Says New Songs Are 'Very Atmospheric' And 'Very Emotional'

Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH will release their tenth full-length album, "The Satanist", in the fall via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Metal Blade in North America. The CD is being recorded at Hertz studio in Bialystok, Poland with the help of the Wieslawscy brothers and Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD). Songtitles set to appear on the effort include "Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel" — described by BEHEMOTH guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski as "killer" and "a monster"; "Messe Noir" (French for "The Black Mass"); and "Ora Pro Nobis, Lucifer" (Latin for "Pray For Us, Lucifer").

In a brand new interview with Revolver magazine, Darski described BEHEMOTH's new songs as "very atmospheric" and "very emotional." "Think BURZUM meets NEW ORDER meets KILLING JOKE," he added. But at the same time, fans shouldn't expect the album to sound too far removed from BEHEMOTH's past efforts. "Take SLAYER, for example," Darski said. "Whatever genre they deal with, they still end up sounding like SLAYER. Even when they were flirting with nu-metal, it was a SLAYER record. Same with BEHEMOTH."

According to Darski, at least some of the inspiration for the new BEHEMOTH album is coming from his five-month bout of leukemia he overcame in January 2011, after receiving a bone-marrow transplant. "When I was in the hospital, I was collecting experiences and emotions," he said. "I'm pretty sure that it's coming out now. There are moments I catch myself thinking about how my state was back then. It was me versus life, me versus death. It definitely changed my thoughts a lot. It's 100 percent being reflected in the record and songs I'm writing nowadays. I'm way more radical than I used to be."

Regarding the title of the new BEHEMOTH album, Darski said, "It took us over two decades to come up with a title that… says it all.

"While our new songs artistically take surprisingly adventurous directions, our message stands steadfast — proud and radical.

"'The Satanist' stands for undying yearning for liberation and love for freedom in all aspects of life.

"Considering all our life experiences that often took dramatic curves, I couldn't think of more appropriate and fitting statement of who and where we are now."

In an April 2012 interview with Metal Blast, Nergal offered more information about BEHEMOTH's mindset going into the new album. "We want to take our time and not rush ourselves in any way," he said. "It looks like it might be the most important album in our career. I want to make the most honest record and I won't be bending to anyone's rules or expectations, including [BEHEMOTH's record labels] Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast. Every next BEHEMOTH album is a surprise and is never the same. . . We don't want to stress ourselves because the music business and the direction it takes is not as I would like it to be. That means we will be going against the current again and just do as we will and please. Whatever we do is going to be BEHEMOTH, 100 percent. It is the state of our will and nobody can deny it. I can tell you that we aren't going to come out with a reggae or country album; it's going to be BEHEMOTH, it's going to be extreme. But don't be surprised if people listened to it and said, 'Fuck, they did it. It's so amazing.' [laughs] That's what I like to say when I listen to my own music. I love to surprise myself. I hate things that are predictable. I want to surprise myself and surprise other people, as well. . . Don't get me wrong, I am a huge AC/DC fan and I expect AC/DC to be AC/DC, but don't expect BEHEMOTH to put out another 'The Apostasy', 'Demigod' or 'Evangelion' album, because that will not happen."

BEHEMOTH's ninth full-length studio album, 2009's "Evangelion", sold 8,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 56 on The Billboard 200 chart.