Isn't it very tiring when the bands bound themselves to some underground limits, stay safe and repeat themselves into an eternity without putting something new to its music? And isn't it also very childish of people to talk lots of shit about a band when they get a well deserved amount of succes? Indeed it is and as smart people knows, progression is always necessary and a band that is well aware of this is Polish Behemoth. A band which has progressed all the time and also the band that released the magnificent album "Satanica" last year. Nergal speaks...

Interview by Whodan

I see there is such a childish thing as an anti Behemoth front there in your native country. Why do you think people in Poland are hung up on your musical credibility and your succes really?
Hargh, hargh...well, what can I say about this crap, I don't know really. People seem to react with such low instincts all the time that it doesn't surprise me at all, thesedays. On the other hand it's kinda interesting from the social point of view. I've always been curious why some individuals act in so specific way... But throughout the years I've learned how to have a distance to what surrounds us, I mean all the relations, just not to go crazy too fast...But to sum it up. The bigger our band will grow more and more lowlife assholes will try to disturb us but it doesn't terrify me at all. We'll keep on playing high quality music, be sure of that!

I don't know how it is now but some years ago Poland used to be quite a harsh country to live in and only a few people had enough money to live properly. Could this be a factor that contribute to the jealousy of certain people?

Maybe...I've never thought of this seriously. But probably you're right. Fortunately things in Poland grow better with each day. I don't know if it's a bliss for us or not but in two or three years will enter EU and that the economical situation will become even more equal, I reckon...

Except from narrow-minded Polish guys, what reactions have you got due to your very big development from the first till the last album, "Satanica"?
It scored the highest notes in all the magazines here in Poland. Along with Vader we seem to be the biggest extreme metal band in Poland. "Satanica" sold pretty well here I would say. And it's still going well...hah, have no reason to complain, Avantgarde Music does a great job for us as well so...

Personally I think it's great with bands trying out something new little then and then, developing instead of stagnating. But how important is it from the band's standpoint to go on and explore new things?

It's the highest priority I have to say. We will never stay at the same place, never. If it happens be sure that I will stop the band! But so far it goes the right way. We keep on doing new things each time, challenging ourselves and trying to explore new dimensions of sound and quality. I guess when it comes to improvement we are VERY successful band...you see, we've used to play quite simple structured in the past and now we've become more Death Metallish, more progressive but at the same time even more extreme...and in the end we sold twice better than last album. It means something...

Isn't it hard to write all the material by yourself?
It's not simple. But as long as you're devoted to something it won't be problematic to spend hours on creating new songs, riffs, writing lyrics etc. Sometimes it's pain in the ass but all in all it's a great pleasure for us all. The point is that it's our fourth album by now, we've been around for about ten years but we act in the most spontaneous and enthusiastic way all the time. It keeps our band fresh and alert...

You seem to have put more effort into the lyrics on "Satanica" as well. What went in your head while you were writing them?
Many things...but the fact is I wrote just one song for this album. It was my long time friend Kris who wrote most of them. But it's rather pointless to speak of it. It's better to read them by yourself and draw own conclusions, picture your own visions and worlds while reading and listening to the music. But believe me, the topics we write about gives so much possible paths to choose...they deal a lot with kaos magick theories, some of them relate to individuals like Aleister Crowley or Austin Osman Spare.

Under each song there is explanation for the lyrics. Why is that?
For readers to have a clear picture of what it's all about...

"Satanica" was recorded at Starcraft Simulation studio, which is a studio I'm not familiar with. Is that one of the more wellknown studios down there in Poland, like the Abyss in Sweden?

No, it's rather unknown and unpopular one but still it's a very good one when it comes to equipment they have. You can listen to the album and judge by yourself. I'm more than sure we've reached at least the same quality sound as Abyss bands and it's not just my opinion...besides, working in this studio gives me a chance to produce Behemoth albums by myself and only. I'm aware of the fact there's nobody doing this better than me, so...Most possibly next time we'll record in the same studio as well, but having bigger budget and better equipment.

Behemoth was on tour with Satyricon and Hecate Enthroned not so long ago. How did that go?
It was almost perfect. Only the frequency on the German dates were rather low...all the other shows were just excellent. Great crowd, good sound at most of the places, rather comfortable conditions...it all made me think of this tour as of the best one we've done so far. We got pretty well with Satyricon and Hecate Enthroned as well as persons so...no reason to complain. Ah, the only thing that was shitty was lack of French, English and Spanish dates but we could do nothing about this...

And there were no Scandinavian dates on this tour either!
As I told you before...we were not responsible for pickin' up any dates. It's pity, I know, but it's rather difficult to travel there and play a gig. Too high costs for us I guess, but maybe in near future it'll take place, who knows?

It seems to be the fasion of today to include a more Industrial touch to its music. Is there a possibility that also Behemoth will go for a more Industrial touch in the future?

I don't know...I don't give a fuck what fashion and what is not. I always do what I will and nothing really can change my way. There's already been some industrial touches on that album, some samples etc. But the music itself will remain traditional I can assure you. We might experiment with some different sound and stuff, having probably some influences from Strapping Young Lad or something but it'll be Black Metal...at least for me, ha, ha...

With the latest albums we have seen Behemoth take a step closer to Death Metal. Will this development continue in the future as well, more Death Metal and less Black Metal?
I don't see a difference. For me the quality is what counts the most, not the labels that are stuck to the music. Who gives a fuck? We are Black Metal band though we don't use the typical Black Metal face paintings, we don't sound that traditional either so...Just listen and enjoy, don't analyse!

You have quite many bands in Poland but not that many hit off in the rest of the World. Is it harder for a Polish band to gain some succes than for instance a band from Sweden or Norway?
Definitely. I'm certain of the fact we would have been on the fuckin' top if we had came from Scandinavia for instance. But I don't think of this really... O.k. we have a double job to do, right? We have to prove that we beat up most of those damn crapy bands out there because we are simply VERY GOOD! And we follow this way, don't we?

And at last, do Behemoth have any new material done ready and when do you play to record again?
In this summer, we'll enter the same studio probably to record a new album, which is gonna be titled "Thelema.6.Inc". Even more extreme work than "Satanica", believe me, more structured, complex and faster...hmmm, and probably a bit longer as well. Well, I'd like to say thank you to all those people out there who buy our albums and by this supporting the band so much! I hope we'll never let you down by recording a shitty album! Check out our new opus when its out and... MAGICK.FREEDEOM.ART.