Nergal - Behemoth

July 07 2010 (Trabendo)

This one took place right after Ex Deo’s one, not long before Nergal’s hospitalization. We’d like again to thank him for his patience (as it was the third attempt of this interview after some miscellaneous problems) and wish him a prompt recovery.

Fab: Welcome back to France, as you were recently on the HELLFEST bill.
Nergal (Lead vocals/Guitar): Yeah, yeah, yeah. It took us few days to get back here.

Fab: How is your feeling after playing there?
Nergal: I loved this. I would play there… It was the third time I played the HELLFEST and it was the best time so far, biggest stage, best reaction. I mean, we always get so much credit from the French audience, and I don't know, for a decade now, or over a decade now, we've always been very much welcomed in your country, which is awesome, which is good. But the HELLFEST was like a pick of it, you know? I'm really happy with the way things are working out in France.

Fab: Congratulations for the numerous rewards you've won for "Evangelion". Can we say it is your best album so far?
Nergal: I would say so, I would say so. I mean, it's been like over a year now, euh, no, almost a year, since we released it, and one and a half year since we've basically done it and complete the recording. I can't think of like topping this record today, you know what I mean? It'd be very very difficult to overdue ourselves now. We'll do it eventually, just give us some more time, maybe two more years and we will fuckin' do it. But as for today, it's definitely the most completed, and successful record, that's for sure.

Fab: This album is now "gold disk" in Poland. But, we know the difference of opinion between the band and the Polish officials, authorities. Could we say that the new generations, in Poland, seems inclined to a refusal of the Catholic Power?
Nergal: I hope so. I mean, the consumptionism is growing from all across Europe, you know, Capitalism and all democratic tendencies, in the same time, it suffocates the Christian ideals, its breath I would say. It doesn't come along… Being Christian is the opposite to what today's world stands for, and represents. I'm talking about the globalism and stuff, you know. I'd say the globalism is a worse evil, so I definitely go for this one, you know what I mean? (laughter). Poland being a very conservative country, and being very Christian because of its traditions, I'd say that it's a very artificial attitude for many Polish people, they just inherit their tradition, and that's why they stand for Christianity. There's no like deeper meaning behind it, that's what I'm guessing. As far as my observation goes, that's what I see.

Fab: The next video will be "Alas, Lord Is Upon Me", and on the making-of of this video, as for "Of Fire And The Void", we see you very involved on the direction of the video. Do you need to control all this, or just let things happen?
Nergal: Oh yeah, I'm a control freak. I wrote pretty much like seventy per cent of the script for this new video. So I was particularly involved in this video. For "Of Fire And The Void", I let basically other guys like Grupa 13 do everything, and I'm happy with the video, but this time I just got this scenario, this script which like appeared, you know? And I just wrote it down, made a draft and send it over to Grupa 13, they loved it. And Darius Szermanowicz (ndlr: video director) add some other elements, they kinda filtered it with their own experience. And all that you can see is a combination of both.

Fab: And it looks like a big production.
Nergal: It's gonna be the biggest production for us, and for them. It's a lot of money involved, it's a lot of energy, of fuckin' efforts, but we really hope for something extraordinary.

Fab: "Lucifer" for "Evangelion", and "Inner Sanctum" for "The Apostasy" are according to me, two titles that are very different from the rest of their respective album. More slow, more dark. Is this a kind of test for maybe a new orientation of the band?
Nergal: You never know. I can't say, I mean, we'll go with the flow, we always go for what feels right for us and the present moment. I can't say. Maybe we'll go into that direction in the future, maybe not. I can't say if we'll be going faster, or slowing down, but whatever we do, it's gonna naturally come out from our systems if you know what I'm talking about. So we don't think "people like this song, so we're gonna do more songs like this", no fuckin' way. We go for something that we like in the first place, and if people think it's awesome, or if they don't, it's still cool.

Fab: "Inner Sanctum" is never played live…
Nergal: (cutting) No.

Fab: Why? (laughter)
Nergal: The thought never crossed my mind to be honest. In each and every BEHEMOTH albums, there are songs that are specially made for the record, that are never meant to be played live. And I believe that "Inner Sanctum" is one of the songs that we'll never play live, but then, never say never…So, maybe one day you'll see us with Warrel Dane (ndlr: singer for NEVERMORE) onstage, you know, in summer for a festival, doing this song together. You never know. That'd be cool.

Fab: how did you end up collaborating with him?
Nergal: I just sent him an email, to know if he was into doing this, and it took us a few weeks to complete it. He recorded it on his home studio, like in a computer, in a very primitive way. It was very easy, you know. Just emailing and stuff.

Fab: Concerning your work with Maurizio Iacono (Ex Deo & Kataklysm), same process than with Warrell Dane?
Nergal: Same story. He sent me an email, I was like "wouah, I love that idea". I didn't even heard the music back then but I was familiar with the topic, as a historician myself. I really liked the whole idea. The whole historical background is awesome. I'm also a big fan of these movies like "Gladiator", "300" and so on. It's a very cool combination. I think that live, they are better than in the studio. It's always a huge compliment. If one can say that you're better live than in the studio, wouah! I'm happy to have them on this tour.

Fab: Last year, you played in Paris with Devildriver. Do you think that it was a very appropriate bill? because of the clearly different audiences?
Nergal: No, I'm really into diverse bills, you know. DEVILDRIVER is an awesome band. They don't really play the same music than ours, but they are somehow from the same genre, we both play Metal. That's something we have in common, you know. And they're honest and real in what they do, and so are we. So, what's the problem, I mean. I'm not one of these purists that would say that all the Black metal bands should tour together, and Death metal, and American bands…. No! If we get along, you know, we're friends with DEVILDRIVER and we thought this combination of our two bands was going to work. And it did work. The same with BEHEMOTH and KATAKLYSM a few years back, it was a very successful tour you know.

Fab: About this show in Paris, we hear that a Polish guy was surprised by the inertia of the French audience.
Nergal: I don't know, I mean, yesterday we played in Lyon, and the day before Marseille, and I can tell you it was probably the sickest fucking show, the craziest audience I've seen. Especially in Marseille, it was fuckin' out of control. So, I wouldn't really say that the French people are calm, no fucking way. But then again, Polish people are pretty crazy too, so maybe it's some kind of competition between the countries (laughter), but I don't care. To me, if there's energy coming from the audience, I fuckin' feed on it, you know. And if some people tend to stand and listen to the music, it's cool, and if some just go fuckin' wild, it's great either way, as long as they enjoy it, it's killer.

Fab: Gorgoroth (the old line-up) crucified naked extras onstage, you tore up the Bible. What would be your limits?
Nergal: It's not about crossing the limits, it's all about doing things that are right, and to feel comfortable with. And if I felt like manifesting my disgust and hatred towards religion by tearing up the Bible, well I just did it, you know? I wasn't really calculating, or thinking, it was pretty much spontaneous. Then I kept on repeating it, here and then at some shows, but now I don't feel like doing it. Sometimes it feels right, sometimes it doesn't. So, don't expect it tonight, but maybe in the future, maybe something else, I don't know. It's very spontaneous, it's just a profound manifestation of my disgust of the most significant symbol of the limitations that were forced upon human beings, as far as I know, so…

Fab: One of the last shows of BEHEMOTH was your participation to the Warsaw Sonisphere. Could you share some feelings about it?
Nergal: It was awesome. It turned out better than we expect it. A huge festival. We played in front of at least forty thousand people. It was massive you know. I got to meet Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo…

Fab: Wouah, cool!
Nergal: Good guys, good guys. And then we hung out with ANTHRAX a little bit, I talked to the guys briefly. We've never met before. I've seen the show of METALLICA, it was awesome. SLAYER's show too… I talked to Kerry King a little bit too, so, it was a very good day. I mean, our show was amazing. I would never expect such a killer reaction from so-called mainstream metal crowd. They were fuckin' chanting along, you know, with fists in the air and shit like that. And we were on like, at four p.m., but the place was like half-packed, which was already a great success, so. One of the best stage in my life, that's for sure.

Fab: And it was also special because it was in Warsaw.
Nergal: Yeah! Hometown for me.

Fab: A great sense of pride?
Nergal: Definitely.

Fab: Compared to this show, the mainstage at the HELLFEST must have seemed very little for you.
Nergal: No, because then, I mean. To me, there's no difference. If I play in a venue for three hundred people, it's fun and exciting. And then we play in front of thirty thousand people, it's equally exciting, it's just different, you know. That's it, as long as there is people that fuckin' crave for extreme metal and some killer energy and intensity, I just go for it.

Fab: Special request from Bboo, could you play "Rise Of The Blackstorm Of Evil" tonight?
Nergal: Wouah! (general laughter). I don't even know if I can play it at all! I don't remember this song, it's been like ages… Maybe one day we'll do it (laughter). No plans though.

Fab: Is there gonna be someday a return to this kind of Black Metal for Behemoth?
Nergal: I'll say that songs like "Lucifer", or "Alas, Lord is upon me" on the new record are somehow, you know, corresponding with what we did in the early days. But I'm thirty-three and I can't never be fifteen again, so that should be the answer to your question.

Fab: Is there someone that was a huge inspiration for yourself, but a non-musician person…
Nergal: Well, I could say that Krzysztof Azarewicz who is the co-writer for BEHEMOTH's lyrics has been a huge inspiration for me. One of many.

Fab: A last word for your French fans?
Nergal: Just stay French (laughter), stay who you are, be honest and fuckin' support heavy music. You guys have done so well throughout the years so keep it up. It's a very though times for Heavy music ahead of us, and that's gonna be worse and worse, so I really hope that France is gonna be a place where we can always come back. Stay as crazy as you are now. I cross my fingers and I'm with you.