NERGAL Says Side Project ME AND THAT MAN Made BEHEMOTH's New Album 'More Dynamic': 'It Opened Me Up'

BEHEMOTH vocalist/guitarist Adam "Nergal" Darski recently spoke with Christina Rowatt of Australia's "The Void With Christina" podcast. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On his personal philosophy:

Nergal: "I just try to keep my eyes open and process the world, because at every corner, you can find clever people. In the first place, I've learned to listen to my body and listen to the intuition. I've learned that this is exactly where the biggest knowledge is — not my brain, but my body and my intuition. There's even an amazing Friedrich Nietzsche quote that says, 'There's no other philosophy bigger than the philosophy in your body. Your body is the biggest wisdom.' I totally worship that sentence. I think it's pretty crucial in my life."

On how he changes when he's performing live with BEHEMOTH:

Nergal: "What you see on stage is basically a mirror of some inner emotions and stages that I'm going through as a human being. It's me — just a different me every day, and it's just manifesting in this very unique way, a very avantgarde-ish way. That's my artistic need to do that."

On the lyrics of "Wolves Ov Siberia":

Nergal: "For me, it's a very uplifting philosophy. It refers to Lucifer, basically, and all the outcast beings that are said to be cast out from all kinds of things – Eden, paradise and so on. By using the metaphor of Lucifer, I basically refer to human beings, the fact that we seem to be... basically classified as sinners, as some lower beings, because the angelic beings are the ones that are perfect and so on. It all comes down to love your own imperfection and take no shit and go out and conquer everything regardless. All the divine potential is right there in your heart."

On the message the band tries to convey with its music:

Nergal: "What we are serving people or spectators, listeners, is not really a set of answers. What I'm offering people is the set of questions, and it's really up to you what you're going to do with it. You can throw it into the garbage or you can process, but I advise you not to follow me, not even [to] trust me, because I'm no guru here — I'm no leader — but if I can be a trigger to stimulate your brain to start thinking for yourself, I win... I think we have this universal message that stands for human autonomy. Where are you in all of this? In God's plan, where are you? We're just questioning this, and plenty of others. I've always been confronting, questioning and contemplating all the so-called divine laws and dogmas. That's what I've been upset with from day zero when I showed up on this earth, and I'm still dealing with it. I'm processing that. I wouldn't be surprised if BEHEMOTH is my 27-year-long therapy on my relation with Polish Catholicism in some way."

On how his side project ME AND THAT MAN changed him:

Nergal: "It opened me up. It made me more sensitive. It definitely did affect the new record. It made it more dynamic, more rock-based. That's my guess what I think ME AND THAT MAN did to BEHEMOTH, which is a good thing. We progressed; we evolved. I don't know if people will react to that, but I personally think it was very much needed, and I'm happy I did that."

On what makes him laugh:

Nergal: "I'm a very goofy person, and I love that side of me. I can be just an idiot, and I love it. I love playing with people and doing all the sick jokes and just fucking around. I usually have a very abstract kind of sense of humor, very surreal, sometimes very direct. Then I just laugh, or I tell jokes that only me laughs from."

On his Instagram account:

Nergal: "I like to play with that. I'm no pretender — I'm like, 'This is it. This is Nergal.' That's how I act, and that's who I am. I bet that when people see my Instagram, they're like, 'This guy is real in what he's doing. He's not pretending — it's real stuff.' I think people appreciate that, I hope."

On how he'd want to spend his last hour on Earth:

Nergal: "Fucking, I hope."

Released last week worldwide, BEHEMOTH's new LP, "I Loved You At Your Darkest", is a crushing salvo of black metal majesty replete with hellish riffs, thundering drum cannonades and soaring liturgical choirs reminiscent of classic horror cinema. The group's most dynamic record yet, the album is extreme and radical on one hand, but also more rock-oriented than any other BEHEMOTH release. It was produced by the bandmembers themselves, with drum co-production by Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES),mixing by Matt Hyde (SLAYER, CHILDREN OF BODOM) mastering by Tom Baker (NINE INCH NAILS, MARILYN MANSON),and a 17-piece Polish orchestra arranged by Jan Stoklosa.

BEHEMOTH will be tour the USA this October/November as part of the "Ecclesia Diabolica America 2018 e.v." trek, featuring special guests AT THE GATES and WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM.