Behemoth Return To Australia: The Rise Of A New Era

We are about to witness three decades of an uncompromising artistic vision condensed into one spectacularly vicious evening of apocalyptic heresy. A blistering live experience that blends unrelenting ferocity, theatrical grandeur and their signature blackened death metal sound as BEHEMOTH perform tracks from their storied discography alongside new material.

Straddling the line between the sacred and profane, Behemoth has risen to become extreme metal’s most revered and provocative band, steeped in anti-authoritarian fire. Renowned for their elaborate live performances, the band continues to push boundaries with their fearless artistry and vision. Front man Nergal talks to Hi Fi Way about returning to Australia.

Not long to go until your Australian tour kicks off?
Absolutely. It’s actually going to be less than a month, because we start in Athens and Turkey on the February 8. So the tour really kicks off in just over two weeks. I’m very excited. I’ve said it plenty of times, I love it down there. And the best part is I don’t have to pretend or kiss anyone’s ass about it. I’ve got nothing but amazing memories from every trip, especially those early tours with Soundworks. It was just great. And I remember from the very first tour, we got so much credit. We did well right from the start. It just keeps growing bigger and bigger. So this time, we’re expecting nothing but great crowds. The ultimate Behemoth Aussie tour. That’s the plan.”

What can fans expect on this tour?
Well… I dare say Behemoth is a well‑oiled machine. We’ve got an amazing set, a mix of songs, the best production, and we’re bringing our full light show. Obviously in Australia we can’t use pyros, unless you’re Rammstein, then you can get away with it, but we stick to what we can physically do, and it’s still the best production we can bring. Behemoth is in its prime, and even though we’re close to fifty, that’s not just talk, that’s a fact, and anyone who’s seen the recent tours knows it. People keep telling us we’re on fire, and yeah, we’re bringing that fire down to your hemisphere.

That legacy continues to build and grow for Behemoth. What does that mean for you? It doesn’t matter where you tour around the world, that interest for the band is stronger than ever?
I don’t know… I mean, first of all, I’m grateful. Truly grateful and as we speak, we’re putting together these Behemoth demos that will go into these beautiful box sets, unreleased material, archived photos, all of it. I’ve been digging through that stuff a lot lately, pulling old gems out of my closet, and it really took me back. Seeing photos of a fifteen, sixteen, seventeen‑year‑old Nergal taking his first steps in the scene… recording those early demos that were creepy, dysfunctional, let’s call them that for lack of a better word.

That was what, thirty three years ago? Maybe thirty-two, maybe thirty-four, depending on the demo. I can picture myself back then, thinking small because my world was small. Tape‑trading, being a pen‑pal with guys in Poland, sending letters abroad, spreading flyers, hoping someone, anyone, would notice this band from Poland releasing its first rehearsal tape. Then the first demo. It was such a small world back then.

So, in my wildest dreams, I never imagined that one day people in Australia would come to my shows in the hundreds or even thousands. Big markets. It’s surreal, man. A three‑decade‑long trip that brought me to a place where I can honestly say I’m happy. I’m fulfilled and I’m not done. We still have plenty of music in us, plenty of ideas, and you’ll hear about that soon, because there are a lot of surprises coming.
Behemoth isn’t a band that just feeds on its legacy, doing tours and playing only the old stuff because people like the old stuff. No. People like old Behemoth, medium Behemoth, new Behemoth, and we combine all of it while still releasing new beats, new material, new energy that electrifies people. That’s motivating. That’s what drives us. I definitely think we’ve got another five to ten years in us.

Is that hard to balance reinvention with maintaining the core identity with what Behemoth is?
It’s never easy. In fact, I’d say it gets more difficult as time goes on. This morning, after my workout, I was listening to some recent Dave Mustaine interviews, he’s talking about making his last record, and it made me think, okay, so when is Behemoth’s last record? That opened up a whole chain of reflections, because we’ve just finished shooting some videos, and every time we approach something, a video, a record, even just writing, it’s a challenge. Every single time. How do we tweak things so we stay relevant? Stay fresh? It’s not easy. I don’t want to be one of those bands that just copy‑pastes the same thing forever. Some bands do that, very successfully, and that’s fine for them. But I’m ADHD; I need things to be different every time. It has to be exciting. I want people to hear something and go, ‘Okay, it’s Behemoth… but I’ve never heard them like this before.’

And that responsibility is on us. I feel that weight. It’s not easy. I can’t just throw out songs and assume people will eat it up. No. I need to be one hundred percent sure that the new material is at least one of the top three Behemoth albums, otherwise we’re not releasing it. I don’t want to put out music that doesn’t meet that standard.

Even now, as we’re building the setlist for this Australian tour, and it’s more than just Australia, I’m saying, ‘Okay guys, we need to bring this song back. This one needs a new life. Let’s refresh it.’ It’s not just about the evergreens that I know people will like. It’s also about us asking: Are we feeling it? Are we having fun? Are we still challenging ourselves? It’s a thin line. It’s not easy. But it’s exciting.

Do you get much of a chance to reflect on the impact of your new album and how that’s been embraced by fans?
Yeah, I actually talked to my manager about this yesterday, because for a few years now the sales numbers have stopped making any real sense. Ten years ago it was all physicals — simple. Now everything is completely fucked up. The dynamics of the world have changed. The rules that applied yesterday mean nothing today, and tomorrow there’ll be a new tool, a new platform, a new algorithm… it’s hard to navigate this digital, AI‑driven reality.

So for the first time in ages I asked my manager, ‘Hey, can you pull the sales for the last record?’ He did, and I looked at them and thought, okay, not bad. And he said, ‘Yeah, it’s going well.’ I’m not giving you numbers, probably won’t tell you anything anyway, but we’re maintaining. But the bottom line is this: those numbers don’t really matter. They don’t reflect the actual status of the band. Maybe we did better in the past, but that was under different rules, physicals, different metrics, different landscape. Now everything’s mixed up.

What does reflect the band’s status is the touring. Our recent tours have been the most attended, the biggest numbers, the biggest ticket sales. So it’s hard to judge anything by sales alone. You release new music and you want it to be the best, most updated version of Behemoth for people, but you never know how it’ll sell and yet, it’s selling. And then you look at the ticket sales. I just got the report for the upcoming US tour and it’s insane, on fire. So we were like, okay… we’re still relevant. We’re still growing. Which is crazy for a band with a thirty-five year history. We’re an ancient band, let’s call it what it is and still growing.

That’s amazing. That’s everything. I’m just happy we’re still relevant, not a relic, not a dinosaur. We’re delivering fresh music. People can argue about which era of Behemoth they like, that’s all sentiment. What matters is that we’re still here, releasing new music, and putting on what I hope is a very impressive live show.

Is there something particular with the Behemoth sound that you want to explore that you haven’t?
I think that actually answers your question. On the recent tours, we had a set that was really dynamic, a mix of old songs, new songs, different moods, different energies. It wasn’t just a brutal set, and it wasn’t experimental for the sake of it. There were different vibrations throughout, and it felt fulfilling. We’d finish the set and think, ‘Is anything missing?’ And it didn’t feel like anything was. So, I guess that’s the answer: we’ve put all the pieces together in a way that feels complete.

How does the creative process start for Behemoth?
It’s always been like this. See this chair? This guitar? It’s not even plugged in, it can be, but most of the time I just grab it, sit right here, and jam. Or I’ll hum a melody, then try to play it on the guitar and turn it into a riff. If I can’t, I’ll ask someone to build the melody on a keyboard.

It all starts here, in this room, usually my bedroom. ThenI’ll go into the studio alone with the guitar. I’ll tell the engineer, ‘Put a click on,’ and I’ll scroll through my phone because I record everything, little videos of every jam that feels like it has potential. We put those ideas down in Cubase or Pro Tools: one guitar, then maybe a second guitar idea. I’ve got dozens of these beats and riffs, sometimes more, and I collect them. I go back and forth, listening, taking notes. Maybe I spot a cool title. Maybe I hear a sentence in a show or read a word in a book and think, I’m stealing that, I just need to rewrite it. That might become lyrics. It all happens at the same time, and eventually these pieces start forming bigger ideas.

When an idea is big enough, two or three riffs that make sense together, maybe with some lyric fragments or even a title, I take it to the rehearsal room. And it’s old school. As you can see, everything about this process is old school. We’re not one of those bands that just sends files around. Sometimes I’ll send something to the drummer, sure, but even then he plays it with his fingers, he doesn’t program it. He plays it exactly how he would live. But usually it all ends up in the rehearsal room, four dudes talking, arguing, building something bigger than themselves. That’s how we’ve always done it, and I like it that way. It’s personal.

Technically, the process hasn’t changed in decades. But the challenge has. Every time it gets harder. Every time I jam, I’m asking myself, Have I played something like this before? Sometimes the answer is yes, and if the new idea isn’t better, I throw it out. If it is better, I try to build a song from it. There are so many factors, so many ideas, so many doubts. Months pass. Sometimes years. And then everything accumulates, and suddenly it’s time to make an album. That’s how it’s always been.

What do you look forward to most about touring Australia?
Fucking warmth. Beautiful weather, sun, smiling people, you guys never stop fucking smiling, and that is beautiful.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Behemoth on the following dates, tickets from The Phoenix…