BEHEMOTH Frontman Says The Purpose Of Religion Is To 'Control People, Control The Masses'

Lucki of Pitcam TV conducted an interview with frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH prior to the band's January 13 concert at Tonhalle in Munich, Germany. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he still gets excited about releasing new albums and tours:

Nergal: "Very much so. It feels very rewarding and gratifying to be facing this situation, to confront this high-profile thing that is occurring. I mean, the album does great, the U.S. tour was our biggest club tour ever. This tour is our biggest club tour in all the continents ever, so it feels like the album is taking its toll, but it's not just a record. I see it as a summary of our, what, 27, 28 years of our career, our ongoing career and lots of hard work. We have invested in this band and it's all paying off. So, it feels good, yeah."

On his regular workout schedule:

Nergal: "When I get the question 'Why do you go to the gym?' I always answer back, 'Why do you brush your teeth every morning?' You do. It's your hygiene. For me, taking care of my body, holistically embrace my body, so it's not just my body. It's everything. Your brain is working as well. Your brain is producing endorphins. It's chemistry and it's very healthy on so many layers, so I just love doing that because, see, I'm sitting straight up. We do have problems, all of us, Inferno [drums], Orion [bass], everyone is struggling with some kind of problem, myself too. The moment I stop, it's a downward spiral for me. I never want to stop. This is the routine that I really like, so it's not like 'Oh, shit. The gym again.' No. 'Where is the fucking gym? I need that!'"

On whether Jesus Christ would be a Satanist today considering what his "followers" do in his name:

Nergal: "Probably a person like him did exist. There's some proof for that. I don't believe that this person is exactly how he's portrayed by Christianity and their aesthetic, with this very noble gentle look and always very vital and nah, he's probably something opposite. What is cool about it is that apparently, he was one of the rebels. I don't know…maybe one day I should pay some attention and try to think about that, but I never thought about it. I guess these days we are overwhelmed with information. I don't believe, let's say Jesus is the second coming and he just appears tonight. He'd be in prison or put in a mental house or just completely ignored, considering how vast and massive and overwhelming the [amount of] information [there] is. Back then, the population was what? Twenty times smaller or fifty times smaller. The world was that small. It was much easier to make an impact. Take the '80s. You have death metal bands POSSESSED, DEATH, just making this statement. There were few death metal bands, SLAYER, DEATH, POSSESSED and some others. That's it. Try to come out in an extreme band, death or black metal, in this generation and make a statement and make something that's going to be remarkable and stand out and eventually start a new subgenre. Not possible at all. It's all done. All we can do is mutate and just redefine things. The same story with this: It was much easier back then to be a rebel and people eventually wrote about it and then the spoken word would just spread and you would eventually make a statement. These days? I bet the world is full of 'Christs.' I'm not saying good or bad. I'm talking shamans and pretenders, fakers, spiritual people that are maybe very honest, but maybe living in India or something. The world is full of that kind of people, but try to make a statement and make a cult that's going to reign for the next 2,000 years. It's not going to happen. It's good to think of how the biggest monotheistic religions were born back then. They got their chance and they grew big and influential, but I hardly see any chance for a new thing like Scientology. It's all cults. It's still niche. It's money and control. It all comes to one thing. I'm talking about ancient cults like Christianity, the Hebrew tradition, Torah and Quran. The bottom line is to control people, control the masses, to make them fear so they come to us, so they can control them. People are usually, most of them, they love their comfort zones. That's why they go to that. That's why they would let someone else make a decision for them."

On right-wing conservatism that is prevalent in Europe:

Nergal: "They fear the unknown. That's what makes this, let's call it 'opportunistic' agendas that win [people] over. They just take people's hate: 'There's this Satan or some other scapegoat or immigrants or this or that. They are a potential enemy. They're going to come down here and they're going to take something away from you. They're going to rape your kids. They're going to possess you,' whatever, just to explain methodology of these sects, sectarian attitudes. They can be political or religious. What I do, I'm not giving you an answer: 'Hey, I got an alternative.' What I do and what we do with BEHEMOTH and even on a personal, civil level, I'm, like, 'Think for yourself. Question. Don't trust anyone, including myself, because I try to know myself.' I'm not a sultan, know thyself. Each one of you, you have balls and if you're encouraged enough to question laws and the realities, go for it. The road might be very difficult and there's a lot of obstacles along the way and it can be painful as well, but eventually, it's going to be very gratifying because eventually, you're going to win your freedom back."

BEHEMOTH's latest album, "I Loved You At Your Darkest", was released in October via Metal Blade Records in North America and Nuclear Blast in Europe.