BEHEMOTH Frontman Talks Next Album In New Video Interview

On April 11, Metal Blast conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski of Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow.

Metal Blast: Since you have been touring, has there been any chance for the band to come up with new material?

Nergal: Slowly. We want to take our time and not rush ourselves in any way. There are a lot of projects going on. BEHEMOTH is doing a lot of stuff and I am doing things on my own. I am completing a biography right now, and I will be coming up with my own book in October. It's all in Polish already, but we will see later on about doing more translations. There are a lot of things happening, so there is no space for us to just sit and write new material. But, I can tell you that there are at least three or four rough sketches of songs, just ideas. Main riffs, main themes. We will be building around these ideas, so about one-third of the album is underway. We just need to get into the creative mode again and start working on it. No rush. When it's out it's out, and it is going to be fucking supreme.

Metal Blast: This is basically going to be considered as the BEHEMOTH "comeback" album…

Nergal: It looks like it might be the most important album in our career. I don't really want to stretch my ass that much. I want to make the most honest record and I won't be bending to anyone's rules or expectations, including Metal Blade or Nuclear Blast. They never try to give us rules since they have so much trust in what we do. When we are done recording and get the albums in their hands they will say, "This is BEHEMOTH. They have made us. They have educated us." Every next BEHEMOTH album is a surprise and is never the same. The release date will probably be in the middle of 2013. We are going to tour as much as we can since there are more places and territories that we need to go in order to spread our message. Get into the vibe, get into the drill, and get into the chemistry again. The chemistry is already there, which is shown by the Full Of Hate tour with CANNIBAL CORPSE was already great, so I expect nothing less from this one.

Metal Blast: You mention that you want to make an album that is meaningful to you. Do you think that the state of music today has put meaning by the wayside and looked to be made with profits or other ideas in mind?

Nergal: Yeah, you might be right. As I said, 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%. 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.

Metal Blast: Yeah, that's definitely what you guys have been doing. The past three albums has been one transformation after another.

Nergal: That's the nature of things. That's the constant transformations. We are just trying to get away from the label, from the definition. The definition is transformation itself, the constant change of things. If you think that way that nothing ever stays the same, every next heartbeat, every next minute, every next experience is different. If you realize that it's so much easier to adapt to changes, let it go, and appreciate them. 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.