BEHEMOTH premiered their latest visual feast, Opvs Contra Cvltvram, a streaming event shot on the roof of Warsaw’s renowned Palace of Culture & Science on 15th September. This landmark event heralded the arrival of the band’s epic 12th studio album, Opvs Contra Natvram, which came out on September 16.
In a new interview with Rock Sound, BEHEMOTH mastermind Adam “Nergal” Darski talked about the band’s decision to film the event on the Palace Of Culture And Science.
“We were trying to do something big around the release date. And I’ve been talking about that for months and months, [throwing around] different ideas,” Nergal said. “We even had an idea to go and perform somewhere in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yeah, we were actually making contacts with some productions out there. We were thinking, not only we can just make an artistic statement but we can also make a very important political statement.
“I use my platforms. I use the stage and in interviews [I take the opportunity] to mention things that I consider very relevant and righteous,” he continued. “So we were thinking, ‘Maybe we should f**king go to Kyiv and do it on top of some building. Maybe if there’s a bombing, we should f**king go underground, like U2 did’ — Bono and Edge, they performed in a metro, underground. And we were just bouncing back all those ideas. But eventually we ended up [deciding to do it in Warsaw because it made more sense] logistically, economically… even though it was still f**king pricey.”
“I really hope that people will pay attention and will click on that and people will appreciate all the effort that we put and invested. And, of course, it’s free of charge; we’re just giving you something extra around the record, just to build hype about the record and also hype for the upcoming European and South American tours.”
The ten chapters of fury that make up Opvs Contra Natvram were written and recorded over the course of a very strange year for the globe — a situation which only heightened the level of craft seen in these 43 minutes and 15 seconds of searing wrath. As with previous studio outings, Opvs… was produced by BEHEMOTH, with mixing handled by acclaimed studio legend Joe Barresi (NINE INCH NAILS, TOOL, QOTSA, ALICE IN CHAINS).
