During a recent fan Q&A session hosted by Metal Hammer, BEHEMOTH frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski was asked a following question by guy named Justin:
“When are you gonna stop being an edgy emo kid that still thinks trashing religion is cool?”
Nergal responded: “Justin, keep in mind that I never attack people. I always attack doctrines and ideals that I think are dangerous to someone’s freedom.
“I cannot agree with North Korean policy and I say it’s bullsh*t, don’t go there and get imprisoned, and if you live there, get the f*ck out of there – is it weird when I say that? I hope not.
“The same goes for religion, especially monotheistic religions because to me, they’re like modern slavery. Most people don’t see it but you think you’re free, yet you’re bound to these numerous rules you must obey. To me, any religion is like North Korea.
“If you can think for yourself, confront that and get the f*ck away from that because I don’t see how people can find happiness in being slaves. That’s just me, you can’t ask me not to be myself.
“What you can do is stop following me, reading my interviews and listening to my music, then you won’t have that problem anymore because that’s your own free will. You are you and I am me, focus on your own garden and keep it clean instead of spitting on someone else’s.”
When asked by another fan, if BEHEMOTH would ever drop their makeup like KISS, Nergal answered:
“We don’t really need to do that because bands like GHOST, KISS, and SLIPKNOT have all unmasked themselves, and it was too late for me to unmask myself because I exposed myself ages ago.
“There’s no need for me to hide from the public because that’s not in my nature; I’m very outgoing to show people I have an onstage and offstage persona and both are very genuine. These days, with social networks, you can’t keep the mystique going for long.
“It’s a sign of the times but a lot of bands unmask themselves thinking they’re mature and grown up now but I don’t see it that way; we’ll go with whatever suits the concept and higher vision.
“Maybe one day the higher vision will be determined by the record we’re going to make, maybe it will force us to change or find an equivalent to the masks, but I love how it is now. We’re always experimenting with our masks and costume changes, so we’re still really varied.”
