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Interview with
NERGAL
from
BEHEMOTH

(13th September 2022)

Interview by Shaquira Hobbs

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Nergal: I’m so sorry for being late.

Shaquira: That’s okay. It’s not a problem
Nergal: As always. I mean, I always overrun because I talk too much.

Shaquira: Not a problem. How are you tonight?
Nergal: I’m good. Uh, you are my second and last interviewer. So there is no stress and I had a good night’s sleep and I had a good workout prior to this. Um, the weather is shit, but I don’t mind. Yeah, it’s gonna be a wonderful day.

Shaquira: Oh, that’s really good. I’m glad to hear. So straight into it. How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Nergal: Well, I call it radical metal, extreme metal, black metal, death metal, you know, it’s behemoth metal. yeah. It’s, it’s definitely, it’s definitely extreme, you know, so, I mean, I get PE I mean, like when you go through our back cuts a lot, you know, you can clearly see that, like how many soundscapes we’re covering. Right. I mean, we even have like more rock and roll based moments, like with songs like pure even hate or, you know, it’s just, it’s, it’s so many soundscapes. So, um, so, uh, yeah, but it’s all extreme. It’s definitely underground, extreme music, you know, even though the band is kind of, you know, getting bigger and bigger and we even play download Australia, you know, almost mainstream fucking Alice in chains, all like this big rock band and behemoth before them. It’s a changer, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s great. But, um, we, we don’t change, you know, we don’t, um, soften our sound and I believe that this new record is just another proof and it’s this to everyone out there, they would think, oh, Behemoth is, you know, someone cut off your balls.
You know, I remember when I read the first single of ov Herculean exile and it’s one of two slow songs on the record, the rest of the record is just, AGGHH. And a lot of people are like, holy shit. What, what, what, what’s wrong with Behemoth? Where’s Behemoth we love? I’m like, I mean, I just wanted to fucking confuse you, you know? I mean, don’t expect that we always do what you expect us to do. You know, there’s a lot of like muscle songs, you know, that we could release that in the first single, but every fucking band does it. So I was like, eh, let’s do the other way around.

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Shaquira: Definitely,  And it always pays to be unique.
Nergal: Absolutely. I mean, regardless, you know, I mean, like even I remember when we released Bartzabel from the second last album, there were, of course there were like, you know, voices out there, you know, in public or comments, what the fuck Behemoth is turning into ghost. That’s a bummer, bullshit. It’s a ballad, Behemoth starts playing ballads. And I’m like, okay. And now I, I can’t really imagine doing a show without Bartzabel. People want to fucking stone me for that. Plus there’s people asking, Hey, is there gonna be Bartzabel part two on this new album? And I’m like, fuck, no, , it’s gonna be definitely sound. There’s gonna be by becoming a journal. It’s gonna be versvs Christvs and all the other songs, but never fucking ever expect me writing X number two, Y number two, never, never happening. Of course there’s songs that’s somehow similar because I stick to Behemoths trademark, you know, and there’s this much I can do, which is, I don’t know, not much maybe.
I mean, I just, I have my ingredients here, base drums, uh, vocals and guitars and my imagination and the capacity, uh, capacity of that is also limited. Okay. So that’s why you won’t hear a Behemoth album that’s gonna be like completely different, Okay. Uh, unless I wanna bury a band, but I don’t wanna do it that, so, um, and as much as I appreciate artistic freedom of other artists, you know, I’m a nine inch nails fan or fucking David bowie, you know, like every record would be like different planet. I can’t allow myself doing that. You know, I’d rather start another band, me and that man or something else. Maybe if I wanna do a punk rock record, you know, I won’t be, I can incorporate some parts, you know, if I’m a punk person and I am, uh, I’ll just do a song like off to war with a, down with a, um( makes dum beats ) , punky vibration, like, uh, in it.
But it’s still Behemoth, it’s like slayer, you know? Yeah. Even when slayer was flirting with, uh, nu  metal on Diabolus in Musica, it’d still be Slayer, you know? Yeah. If Slayer would do like fucking a tribute to punk rock. The whole fucking album would still sound like Slayer, nothing else like that. You know? So I think that we have that in our DNA, you know, whatever we do. And on this new album, you have even like, there’s even beats you like the beginning of and fucking first half of versvs christvs is almost a goth rock, you know, fucking nerd singing or semi singing with a piano in the background. It’s, it’s not really what you would expect from, Behemoth like regular behemoth song, but we challenge ourselves with that. And we challenge you to process that and eventually to like it, well, maybe fucking hate it either way. It’s all the same. So I do that. I do experiment. I get adventurous on this album, every record we get adventurous, but, but it’s always boils out the behemoth music

Shaquira: And you mentioned your new album, which is released September 16th opvs contra natvram, What does that mean?
Nergal: Well, I stole this term from Gustav, Kuhn, world famous, psychologist, uh, very clever person, by the way, I’m a fan of Gustav but he has his own agenda attached to that,  Okay. He has his own description, what opvs is and honestly, I never really dig into that, I’m not, I mean, I’m interested, but I didn’t want that to influence my interpretation of the term. So basically it’s a Latin saying opvs means an art or work art contra means contrary against and Natvra means nature. But in my, in this very case, I mean, not nature, as trees and whales and fish and birds and oceans. I’m talking about the nature of things, how things work these days, I’m talking the reality. Yeah. I’m talking, what’s surrounding us. And, uh, I’m also talking about how, uh, world is trying, how to do this, how to do that, how, like the, the geopolitics it’s geopolitics now.
I mean, my favorite topic lately is just, we are just moving backwards, you know? And, uh, I can, I mean, if I start, I’ll never finish, you know, but let me just give you some examples. When we released the last record, we just released singers, even bars, bill that I I’ve already talked about it, fucking blood annuity and like, it’s, I don’t know, 12 million people watch now all good with in YouTube. We release mv Herculean exile, the video that is probably one of our best things we’ve ever done. Super cinematic. And probably the most expensive, budget wise. And we were told that YouTube has, sorry, we have to cut the reaches of the video. I’m like, how come because of blood and this, and that, and it’s violent. And, and I’m like, okay, so this is the direction of the world. Now it’s less and less that is possible less and less. You can say, I mean, of course we have this big word and big thing of democracy, and everything’s supposed to be plural, at least in a plural world, you know? But, uh, it looks like more and more. It’s just a sticker. It’s just a label. And it’s like the actions behind it are less and less democratic and plural, you know, so again, about my own works, you know, we would release, uh, Thy becoming internal video. I dunno if you’ve seen it. It’s an animation. Okay. It’s an animation and a main actor, main guy of the video is that genderless guy. I mean, he kind of looks like masculine, like with the muscles and stuff, but So what, what, what happened was like, I mean, just, I told the guy, Japanese director told him, Hey, please make it gemderless. First of all, I’m a fan of women. Okay. So I don’t, I don’t want women to feel like, mm it’s all about men. And then again, you know, I’m all about equality. So maybe this guy should be black as well. I don’t wanna be accused of being a racist, you know, because I’m not, I’m as far from that as possible, you know? But that’s, there’s a direction of things that like, you want, you can’t

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Shaquira: Not say anything without being judged.
Nergal: Exactly. Like you know. I dunno, you, you got it exactly. So now I’m thinking, holy shit, you know, it’s so easy to call me a racist now because there’s no black character in this video, you know what I mean? We are reaching absurd. This is absurd. This is absurdity. This is stupid, you know, but okay. I’m thinking equality. Okay. So please make it genderless. Guess what happens? Uh, TikTok takes the video down due too nudity. Where’s Dick. Where’s the fucking pussy. I mean, I mean, Hey, don’t get me wrong. Dick and pussy equals fun. if it was up to me, it’d all be about fucking dicks all over the place and vaginas everywhere. So fucking Good, but it’s me. That’s me. You can’t Do that. You know.
I’m 45 and I’m probably fucking ancient. Okay. And I’m not adapted to those new standards and I’m gonna be sooner or later, just watch and see, I will be canceled because kids, you know, youngster go like, yeah, this guy’s too old for our standards. He’s a violent person. And he has this sense of humor that, that is insulting. And he likes bored and, and right in our face. Yeah. I fucking worship behemoth. I worship that sense of humor. And the problem is there’s no, there’s no, sattire, there’s no sense of humor anymore. You can’t fucking joke about Jews. You can’t joke about poles. How come? I think Polish people are super fucking funny. Go ahead. Joke about us. You know? And, and we, yeah. And, and, and, and anyone like it’s, I mean, that should be the basic human right to joke about it. Like, but in my opinion, if I joke about, let’s say women or blondes, okay.
That’s like the Blonde, um, section of jokes, right. Does that mean that I diminish, uh, demean them? Absolutely not. I had girlfriends, wonderful  women and I adore them still. I have blonde friends,  I respect them, but I still keep on telling those jokes. I’d say more. If you, if you freely talk jokes about some minorities, Polish, blonde Jews, ay, fucking kangaroo, whatever. It only means that you don’t have problem with those people. You know what I mean? You do that out of respect and within respect. Why? Because you are not creating a taboo. If you’re creating a taboo, it’s like, let’s not talk about gay and LGBT. Why? I don’t know. Let’s just not talk. No, let’s fucking talk about it. Or am I gay? No, I’m not, but I’m gay-Okay,  And I support those people and guess what? I fucking love gay jokes.
And I crack them every occasion. And I have, gay friends that are laughing with me and idiots out there in the internet, When they see me doing that, they’re accusing me of being a fucking this or that, you know, which I’m not go on my Instagram and you’ll see the post that I did Like few days ago, I posted two faces. One face is me sleeping. And, uh, like most people when they sleep, when they open their mouth, because they losing their face, facial, uh, muscles, they look like fucking retards. They look like idiots. Okay. And I have a lot of distance to myself. So I decided to post that next to me. There’s a face of Hawking the famous scientist, a person that I read that I respect that I think is amazing. And guess what? okay. Two thirds of the people on the comments out there got the joke they’re like, yeah, fucking funny, Awesome. And one third was like, should be ashamed. You know, you went through leukemia yourself, how like you have no right to discriminate and they’re like, you have no intention. Why I did that. And if I’m discriminating and I’m joking about anything in this post it is myself, I’m goofing about myself. And I make myself look like an idiot because every now and then I am an idiot deal with it.
Next question, please.

Shaquira: So this is your 12 studio album. What’s your creative process like?
Nergal: Uh, uh, I grab my guitar. Usually I sit here on this, uh, bed or my other apartment on sofa and I don’t even plug it to my amp. I do have an amp, but it’s been fucking quiet for 10 years now and I just play and I just Gemstar and I collect it and then I bring it to rehearsal. So that’s, uh, talking about it. It’s very boring. And, uh, like going through the process is boring because it just, you know, it’s like writing lyrics, you know? I mean, like, even today I would just read some here, some radio. And like someone said about some saturnine, I think that’s the word in English from Saturn Saturn, the planet. So something can be saturnine or saturnine. I might be wrong now, but anyways, I heard it. I was like, and like took my notebook and it just put it down because I’m not thinking, oh, I, I think I want to use it in some lyrics maybe, or I don’t, but it’s just one word.
And then you get the record and then it’s fucking thousands of words. Right. But that’s how it starts puzzle pieces and it’s a months and sometimes years of process, I put them in and then I see it and spend fucking hours on my own first, just connecting those dots, just making those threads and trying to build like a bigger chunk, maybe a line out of and maybe few verses or, or something, or maybe it’s gonna be a part of a song title. I don’t know. It just resonates with me. Same, goes with the reefs. Then I take it to the room, the rehearsal studio, and we fuck around with the band. We see it. And we’re like, and we, you know, box with each other, you know, if it’s good or bad, we should do this or that. You know? So it’s a long process.
I mean, obviously, you know, it’s a pandemic record and I don’t believe there’s a single band on the planet that doesn’t have a pandemic album by now , every band was fucking logged, you know, in their own like studios or houses. And they just had to do something. So I bet that everyone wrote their records, but I’m still surprised that not, there’s not like a, I was expecting like a total spring of albums to be out now when they can be out and people can go on and buy whatever because bands can tour. But it’s not that many records. I don’t know. That’s my impression. I don’t know. Maybe they still wait anyways, I’m happy that we are one of the very first. So, uh, so, um, yeah, it’s a pandemic record born of isolation born in, misanthropy born in lockdown, born in a world that we are not able to, or strongly limited to freely, uh, travel across the globe, which sucks.
But you know something about it because Australia was fucking shut down for two years, which is fucking insane. You could probably swim to fucking Europe if you wanted, but that’s it. I mean, I can’t fucking imagine it. So, um, that was very unprecedented and I really hope that it’s never ever coming back, but then no one knows. So yeah, let’s see. Uh, and not only for that fact, it’s a different album. It’s, it’s just more raw and more Baric and more record, I guess, because the frustration was so intoxicating that it would just make me and I was, it was all solitude and I was just beyond bored on my own all the time, not many interactions with other people others, so definitely a different record, you know, and, and it’s audible, you know, it’s, it’s, I mean, only deaf person would say that it’s it’s like the last one or like the it’s predecessor. No, it’s, it’s, it’s another chapter. It’s a very fresh sounding record, very redefined behemoth yet. Very behemoth too. You know what I mean? Like, that’s my voice there. That’s an inferno. That’s fucking, it’s it’s trademark Behemoth, trade mouse, you know, but it’s, it’s all compiled in that way. That it’s, that it’s sounds immune and it sounds very rejuvenated, I believe.

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Shaquira: I’ve listened to it and I think it fits your brand perfectly.
Nergal: Oh, cool. What’s your favorite song so far?

Shaquira: Track three
Nergal: Deaf sun. No, yeah, yeah. Def sun.

Shaquira: Yes. That was my favorite. So far. I’ve only had a chance to listen to it once through today, but yes. Favorite so far.
Negral: Oh, okay. Okay, cool. Cool, cool. Pay more attention because there’s a lot of like, it’s a very cohesive record, you know, and like it’s very tense and I know it it’s very intense. So like at first, maybe first few spins, you don’t know what’s happening, but once you dig into it, you just find a lot of hidden treasures out there. And, uh, yeah, that’s, I, I, I talked to the German guy a few days ago that had, that gave it no Swedish guy that gave it 35 spins already. And I’m like, holy shit. I didn’t, I don’t think I have even listened to that record 30 times.

Shaquira: Well you mentioned touring and you’ve got one coming up very soon. 31 shows across 19 countries, so how do you feel about that? You’re touring nearly single day in October as well.
Nergal: I fucking, I cant wait. I love touring Europe, all over Europe. I can’t wait to put like, you know, pull out like this new production that we prepared for you, people it’s gonna be awesome. And you know what? We are pretty much playing 45 shows in a row because right after that tour, we fly over to south America as well. So we are not gonna have much time to regroup in between tours. One day in Poland only fucking save, but you know what I mean? Fuck it. I’m not doing much though, uh, we did a lot, but not touring at all for two and a half years. I gotta make it up even financially. I mean, just taking on tour. Yeah. And, um, as a matter of fact, we also are in talks now with sound works, our friends, Brad DYS, Brad, especially he’s the main guy now, uh, about the Aussie tour that might happen February, March.
So just cross fingers. I mean, it’s not easy with today’s prices, flight prices. It’s, it’s, it’s a fuck. It’s a cluster fuck. To get things done. Really? Yeah. I mean, trust me. I mean, even if we got the best forever, well, thank you, sound works. We did, you know, and it’s like, holy shit, this is the most money we get offered, you know, for Australia. And then we put that numbers in Axel and we are like, are we willing to give our own money only on the top of that only to make it and to play there? Ah, we can’t do it. Sorry, we can’t do it. So we need to figure it out how we’re gonna do it. Maybe we need to cut the production. Maybe we need to add another, like, you know, gigs around, you know, I don’t know, I’m dying to fucking go back to Australia.
I love it there. I love, uh, the vibes there. The southern hemisphere have always been super friendly and Behemoth is one of these, those bands that, you know, we never, like we did, like, I don’t know, at least four or five, correct me if I’m wrong. Five, tours there. And every tour was like, we were either flat or stable, but, or we got like more and more people. So we still like building up, you know? So this is really the right momentum to, to make the biggest tour we can in Australia. And I really hope it happens. So yeah,

Shaquira: Fingers crossed that. It does. I’ll be there if it does. So with touring, how do you cope with it? What can be a tedious journey?
Nergal: Mm. You know what, I’m not really, I never get bored with myself, you know? Yeah. I just go on holidays. So like a week long holiday, I would just shut down social media. I didn’t take a single photo. All I needed is my, you know, workout uniform, some sun, Three books, computer, and I don’t give a fuck. I just, I just, I can keep to myself. You know, I keep myself busy and I can travel and I can just think, contemplate, read, listen to music. I’m good. I mean, maybe it’s, you know, getting more painful, you know, some days, you know, when you are sitting for too long, I’m 45, you know, my lower back is not the best spot, you know, but then my band members are much worse, you know, they’re, they, their backs are really fucked and they’re ready for surgeries and it’s fucking years and fucking decades of sitting in a van, sitting in a, you know, on a plane, a lot of sitting, a lot of like enough and never enough, um, exercises. But I do exercise a lot and I try to stay as fit as I can because I wanna do this as long as I can in the best shape possible. So yeah, I cope with that. No problem. It’s part of the, it’s part of the, of the drill.

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Shaquira: And in 1991, when you started behemoth, did you think the band would still be going this strong today?
Nergal: No. I didn’t have enough, um, imagination to picture myself, and considering and talking to you a person from Australia. Uh, probably in fucking 91. I didn’t even, I wasn’t even aware that there’s Australia on the other side of the world I’m kidding.

Shaquira: And what would’ve been your biggest career highlights,
Nergal: Um, uh, there’s many, you know, I mean, I must say like one of the best things about being in this band and many other musicians will tell you the same and bigger musicians, like fucking, I don’t know. I know that, you know, and okay, so one of the highlights is becoming friends with king diamonds and like we text each other and he’s awesome. Right. Or, or Rob Halford. And yet, you know, I see king diamond meeting Rob Halford (Judas Priest), and king is starstruck by meeting Rob Halford. You know what I mean? It’s like, so it’s not just me. It’s even the guys that are iconic already. They get the same vibe as myself. They always, there’s always someone, someone you look up to, and someone that, you know, sometimes just, Hey, can we take a photo together or just a handshake or just some like a little friendship can really do your day.
Do your, make your month, make your year, make your life. You know what I mean? So that’s one of the best ever and like the advantages of just being a musician, a recognized musician. I don’t wanna say popular because  it brings like some shitty connotations, but I’m recognized, I’m aware of that. And this allows me to make friends with people that I grew up on listening to fucking Lawrence, Ole, Rob Halford, king diamond, Kara king, Tory, all those guys, you know, it’s come on. I still, I mean, it is still surreal to me. It is surreal. I’m never gonna accept it as like, oh, that’s my normality. Oh, that’s my bodies. Yes. There are my bodies, you know, but I’d never forget who I am. I’m a fanboy.

Shaquira: All right. And last question for the night. What’s one piece of advice that would you give to your fans
Nergal: Fans? Mm, well, it’s weird times. Okay. Just get ready for a rollercoaster because it’s only going worse. So I’d say stay alive, stay healthy. And just go through that, you know, cluster fuck that happening. You know, you know, outside it’s, it’s, it’s weird. It’s fucked up. I’m very, very confused, you know, but it’s, it’s yeah. You gotta grab the, you know, bull by the horns and just, just make it somehow. So if you can, if you can afford it, if you can, I, I won’t ask you, but if you can afford it, please get a copy for a new record. If you can’t afford it, steal it. uh, you can’t really steal, uh, concert tickets. So if you can afford a concert ticket after paying your bills, putting something in your stomach, then buy a ticket and come to see Behemoth  because we need you there. And that’s it. That’s it just, yeah. Stay alive.

Shaquira: Awesome. Thank you so much for your time tonight.
Nergal: Absolutely. It’s your night. It’s my morning. Oh, morning. Yeah. Have a wonderful evening. And uh, yeah, stay Aussie.
And, bless you. Bless, take care.

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