Polish blackened death band masters Behemoth have built their career on explicit anti-Christian sentiments, and their forthcoming album I Loved You At Your Darkest will continue to fall in line with the band's history of sacrilege. In a new video interview, singer Adam "Nergal" Darski discusses the different approach he took to songwriting on this album, as well as the spark of inspiration that led to the titling of lead single "God = Dog."
According to Nergal, the main riff from "God = Dog" was the first he wrote for the band's first album since 2015's The Satanist. "The notes are very Behemoth, they are trademarked basically. We made this first section, and then I stopped for months. I was like 'okay, this is it. I know this is a behemoth trademark but I really need to take it somewhere else,'" he recalls, continuing,"We have this Behemoth tradition, but how can I build around it and wrap it up to make it sound fresh and new and exciting for us. This is always the biggest challenge."
Nergal goes on to tell the story of driving around with a friend in downtown Los Angeles when he saw a poster for "Cholo goth" duo Prayers. and despite his usual lack of interest in electronic music, the friend played a few tracks and the singer found himself drawn to the darkness in the music. The spark of inspiration came specifically from the track "From Dog to God," a chilly synth track from 2013 that draws on themes of loneliness and abandonment. "I checked the title and thought 'holy fuck, how can I steal that idea and make it mine," Nergal jokes. That experience resulted in Behemoth's deeper exploration of Aleister Crowley's thelemic concepts, which Nergal believes can best be understood by buying the record, reading the lyrics, and becoming "enlightened" to the true underlying meaning.
I Loved You at Your Darkest is out October 5th on Metal Blade Records in North American and Nuclear Blast in Europe.
Track listing for the album:
01. Solve
02. Wolves Ov Siberia
03. God = Dog
04. Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
05. Bartzabel
06. If Crucifixion Was Not Enough...
07. Angelvs XIII
08. Sabbath Mater
09. Havohej Pantocrator
10. Rom 5:8
11. We Are The Next 1000 Years
12. Coagvla
Below, learn what Prayers are all about in our exclusive documentary on the Cholo Goth band:
