BEHEMOTH Frontman Explains 'I Loved You At Your Darkest' Album Title

Metalshop TV conducted an interview with BEHEMOTH frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski just before his band’s headline show at this year’s Brutal Assault festival in Czech Republic. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether BEHEMOTH‘s new single, “God = Dog”, is representative of the band’s upcoming album, “I Loved You At Your Darkest”:

Nergal: “Well, in the first place, we have other so-called obvious single choices that were more, I’d say, approachable or easygoing. But unlike other records, or other artists, we [were], like, ‘No. Let’s bring something really radical and extreme.’ Because we are this band in the first place — it’s crazy, it’s blast beats, it’s multi-layered, it’s ups and downs, it’s valleys and mountains — and it’s all within one song, and it’s very dynamic, and that’s what BEHEMOTH is in the first place. The album itself is even more adventurous than the song, so I just thought that it’s a beautiful statement right in the first place, and then we’ll follow it [with other tracks] eventually. I think it really intrigued people. I mean, it seems like, judging by the reaction, [it got] massive feedback. It did the trick, it did really well, people love the song. Most of the people I meet, [they are], like, ‘Wow!’ They love the song, they love the imagery around it. So wait for other cuts to be revealed, because there’s more insanity behind it.”

On using a children’s choir in “God = Dog”:

Nergal: “I stole that idea from Ryan Gosling — I don’t know if you know that actor. Not only is he a great actor, he’s also a great musician. He’s got his own band. I believe he’s got one record under his belt. It’s him, it’s very folky, it’s very like [Nergal’s side project] ME AND THAT MAN, and he’s got all these kids choirs. That’s how I got inspired to use kids choir in ME AND THAT MAN. But then I thought, ‘Okay, ME AND THAT MAN, it came out really cool. I like it. But how about…?’ ‘Cause, to me, kids and their voices, it represents all the innocence of human nature, because kids are innocent, kids are clean. And just combining this with the whole ideaology behind the song and combining kids choirs, incorporating it in such an extreme and crazy song, I thought, ‘Okay…’ That’s what I love in art the most — a lot of dynamics.”

On the “I Loved You At Your Darkest” album title:

Nergal: “It’s very complex, but let’s put it this way. This is the eleventh BEHEMOTH album, and due to the fact that Christianity is… One of the biggest dogmas is Ten Commandments. In Christian symbolism and numerology, the number 11 stands for something transgressive and very sacrilegious and very blaspehemous, because it’s 11. Because there’s 10 commandments, 10 is a number that is completed. So 11 means that it’s something that just imbalances the perfection of Christianity. So I [went], ‘Okay, if it’s our eleventh album, I should go to the source of all evil in the world’ — I’m talking about the Bible itself — steal one of its quotes and just turn it upside down and twist it around… I really wanted to have a different title and not repeating the formula that we’ve repeated for so many albums, that would just end up with very strong one-word statements, like ‘The Satanist’, ‘Evangelion’, ‘Demigod’ and so on. So I just thought it would be good to use the full verse, full sentence. Yeah, I think it’s cool.”

“I Loved You At Your Darkest” will be released on October 5 via Nuclear Blast. Nergal and his bandmates — Orion (bass) and Inferno (drums) — have channeled that passion into the disc, which revels in the kind of religious provocation that BEHEMOTH do best.

Unlike “The Satanist”, which was primarily recorded in one studio, “I Loved You At Your Darkest” saw its production spread across Poland and the United States. It was produced by the bandmembers themselves, with drum co-production by Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES), mixing by Matt Hyde (SLAYER, CHILDREN OF BODOM) and mastering by Tom Baker (NINE INCH NAILS, MARILYN MANSON). Which is to say nothing of the 17-piece Polish orchestra arranged by Jan Stoklosa and engineered by Tomasz Budkiewicz.