BEHEMOTH’s NERGAL Says Metal Sucks Is Trying to Portray Him As A ‘Nazi’ To Get Clicks

Nergal

BEHEMOTH leader Adam “Nergal” Darski has accused Metal Sucks of attempting to portray him as a racist in order to stir controversy and gain traffic.

The musician shared an image of an email he says his management team had recently received from the site. The email reads:

“In the past several days we’ve gotten an influx of reader e-mails directing us to these recently posted photos of Nergal hanging out with Rob Darken from [Polish pagan metal band] Graveland.

“[links to the two images below]

“Graveland and Darken, you may be aware, have come under fire quite a bit in the past for their ties to NSBM [National Socialist black metal]. This included a violent antifa protest in 2016, which led to a shutdown of a show in Montreal. [link to protest story]

“Additionally, in the photos, Nergal can be seen wearing a [Swiss extreme metal band] Bolzer shirt. The band’s frontman, Okoi “KzR” Jones, has also been accused of having national socialist ties.
“This comes on the heels of Nergal’s already-infamous quote about Hitler. That quote itself came not long after he made some comments on social media about Poland and Senegal’s respective soccer teams, which seemed to tacitly endorse eugenics. They were also accompanied by a since-deleted image which many would deem offensive to Africans.
“Up until now we tried to give Nergal the benefit of the doubt, but after the Graveland photos, there’s been a substantial amount of reader pressure to speak up.
“To that end, we are currently putting together a piece about this latest incident. We would, of course, like to give Nergal a chance to comment on his apparent friendship with Bob Darken and Graveland before we run anything.
“Thank you for any help you’re able to provide.”

Nergal‘s “already-infamous quote about Hitler” mentioned in the letter was originally published by Louder Sound this October. It reads:

“Culturally, hipsters make the world evolve. Am I hipster myself? I don’t know because I try to run away from any definitions. People love to put stickers on your forehead, and my on forehead there’s a lot of space so I always get more than one. It’s cool.

“If it makes your life easier, it’s cool with me, but trust me, if I’m a hipster then fine, I’m a hipster and a billion other things at the same time.”

“I throw the card out and I do it because that’s what the complexity of human nature is all about. We’re very complex beings and you people, you bashers and accusers, you better learn that.

“The sooner you learn about that the happier and less frustrated you’re going to be, the less violent and aggressive you’re going to be towards other people because it’s all about yourself.

“There’s hipster in each one of you. This is going to be very controversial for some people, but I bet there’s Adolf Hitler in each one of you as well, maybe a little per cent. We are everything.”

Nergal‘s statement regarding this matter reads:

“My management team today received this email below from Ben Umanov and Matt Rosenberg @ Metal Sucks.

“What we have here is a media outlet trying to create a controversial story in order to get clicks by whatever means they can. In this case they are trying to interpret comments, posts, photos and even t-shirts to paint me as something I’m not. For profit. They wanted me to give them a quote for their story to tell my side of things. But, I don’t feel compelled to help them with their news business. Instead, I will address the issues that they imply with my own statement in my own words direct to those who care to read it.

“First I will say this – I am my own person and am against any form of racism, fascism, discrimination or hate. As many of you know, I say a lot of crazy stuff, but I am prejudice against no human-being. I’m a controversial character, I’ll admit it… it’s part of me and sometimes I like to stir things up on purpose. When will I learn? Likely never. But, the simple fact is, I am an open-minded, loving, loyal person. I think the people that I meet in my daily life and musical travels as well as those that follow me on social media know this.

“Rob Darken – I took some photos recently backstage in Poland after a Behemoth show with Rob from Graveland, a buddy and fellow Pole. I have known Rob for many years since 1992 and we hang out sometimes in Wroclaw. He did some recordings on our first and second demo tapes. He also has a photo published in my book ‘Confessions of a Heretic.’ Rob and I share a love of black metal and its rich history. But aside from that, I don’t condone Rob’s personal ideals and agenda because I don’t know them. I can’t take responsibility for every person I take a photo with.

“Bolzer – We’re friends and we’ve toured several times. I don’t have to say much more myself about Okoi and Bolzer other than what Okoi says himself here.

“Eugenics – I have little knowledge and no interest in the subject. I made a comment about my countrymen not being suited to play football. It’s true, the post was removed, but I reposted moments later (still there) with an image more appropriate to the text as the previous was misconstrued. Story of my life!”