Last week we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nergal, aka, Adam Darski, from the legendary Extreme Metal band, Behemoth. Now, I’m using the term “Extreme Metal” since Nergal himself has gone on record to say that he doesn’t like the band being labeled as one genre or the other. However, if you prefer, you can attach Black Metal, Death Metal, or even Blackened Death Metal to the style of music that the Polish band plays. There are elements of all of that in their music, as is Thrash Metal and Symphonic Metal. I think you can see why it’s just simpler to brand them as Extreme Metal.
When we walked onto Behemoth’s tour bus we were immediately introduced to Nergal, which I thought was odd since we had been told, and prepped for an interview with bassist Orion. The tour manager showed us to the back of the bus and to confirm I asked if we were interviewing Orion, and in the TM’s words, “Nope. Nergal. You’ve been upgraded.” It was a pleasant surprise since Nergal is who we initially wanted.
If you’re wondering about the tour bus, it was the usual affair: a maze of wires, laptops, cell phones, shoes strewn about, PlayStation controllers, bed cabins, and tired road-weary people.
The video clip above explains most of the highlights of what we talked about, but the vibe of the interview was almost spiritual. In Nergal’s presence, he is a captivating speaker and a great storyteller. He was obviously tired, so that’s probably where his calm demeanor came from, but you couldn’t help but feel that he was some sort of ritualistic shaman.
The Show
Behemoth is currently headlining the Metal Alliance tour. Additional bands include Black Crown Initiate, Inquisition, Goatwhore, and 1349. We arrived in time for Goatwhore, which was amazing: great Thrash roots combined with Death vocals. That’s a hell of a band. After Goatwhore, the Norwegian Black Metalers, 1349, took the stage, which was an all-out failure in our opinion. Although they formed in 1997, it doesn’t seem that they’ve bothered to learn to play their instruments, much less learn how to play in time together. Yeah, they’re Black Metal, but all we could hear coming out of vocalist Ravn’s mouth was, “Meow, meeeoooow, meowwww, meeeeeow,” in various registers. It was horrendous, to say the least.
Thankfully Behemoth was there to put any bad energy deep into the ground. Robes, fire, and corpse paint, yes, this was an epic live presentation as the band continues to promote their latest album, The Satanist, which is one of 2014’s best. They opened with “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel” and “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer,” both of which are off the new album, before delving into some other stuff. They also played “The Satanist” and “O Father O Satan O Sun!” from The Satanist, but an obvious fan favorite was “Chant for Eschaton 2000.” Totally surreal.
Enjoy the interview, and if you have the chance, make sure to go out and see Behemoth live; it’s an experience you won’t soon forget… or regret.
Rock Hard \m/
