BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition November 2018

BEHEMOTH
COMMERCIALIZING AS A WAY TO SAY “FUCK YOU”
ANA KRUNIC
Setting yourself apart in the world of extreme
metal is an arduous task nowadays. To achieve
success on a mainstream level, you have to deal
with the fact that, to the conventional crowd, all
metal sounds mostly the same. To the uninitiated,
it may as well be all the same dudes growling
about Satan over double kicks and down-tuned
guitars. Few bands have achieved visibility in that
realm, and while they have been criticized for it
in recent years, Poland’s Behemoth has brought
themselves to unparalleled levels of commercial
success in the extreme music world.
Adam Darski, otherwise known as Nergal, is
the main reason that Behemoth’s work has a
Photo by Grzegorz Gołębiowski
I Loved You at Your Darkest sees Behemoth expand their horizons and experiment with commercial ideologies.
wider conceptual lens. As their main songwriter
and frontman, he’s brought focus to the visual
side of Behemoth, which has become a huge
part of their brand. Their imagery and music has
always been iconoclastic and stems from Nergal’s
personal philosophies as a man who was raised
Catholic but is now a strong proponent for
modern Satanism. I Loved You at Your Darkest,
their new release, is not an exception, but strays
from their usually relentless blackened death
metal. It explores orchestral and choral elements,
augmenting the sacrilegious motifs their work
usually follows.
“When I started writing the lyrics, I wasn’t really
ready for it,” says Nergal. “I had a lot of ideas in
my notebook but I was missing a main thought. I
was struggling. When the title finally appeared to
me, it immediately opened the doors and made
it obvious that the album was going to have a
very strong sacral approach. From there I took it
further with the photography and gave myself the
green light to go biblical on this record, full on. I
mean, the bible has always been one of our main
references, but I think this is the pinnacle.”
Despite legal troubles such as nearly being
charged with blasphemy in Poland for tearing up a
bible onstage, and his battle with and victory over
leukemia, Behemoth has stayed fairly consistent
in releasing music and touring. They also maintain
their brand with products like jewelry and coffee.
“I wouldn’t say there is a strict formula to how
Nergal works or does things,” he says. “I really like
my artistic anarchy and I really worship it because
it gives me so much freedom. If you ask me ‘How
do you write songs,’ I don’t really know. I just open
my eyes, spread my arms, and ask the cosmos to
grant me amazing ideas.”
Their foray into becoming more of a brand
has been met with some backlash, seen as too
commercial for a band with roots such as theirs.
They recently released a video on YouTube titled
“God = Dog Food” (a play on one of their newest
singles, “God = Dog”) depicting a dog eating
their newly released dog treats in the shape of
little black crosses. It’s pretty on the nose, but it’s
an effective and lighthearted fuck you to their
religious detractors in Poland, who have been
hounding Behemoth for years.
“We were just brainstorming with our
management and I brought up the idea. I’m just
thinking about how my local Polish adversaries
are going to take it,” he laughs. “Because they
obviously would love to see me crucified or
stoned, and they can’t physically drag me in the
street and do it like they did 2000 years ago. These
days they need to bring me to court. So I’m just
waiting patiently, or impatiently, to see what their
arguments are going to be. I love how they can’t
fucking handle it.”
Despite the negative feedback from people who
would probably rather see Behemoth go back to
their black metal roots, whatever they’re doing
is evidently working for them. At the end of the
day, Nergal says he’s still using his art as a personal
conduit.
“I’ve always seen Behemoth as a kind of artistic
entity. An artistic being that can explore its vision
in more ways than just sonically. I always underline
that the music is our priority – we live the music,
we breathe the music, we shit the music. But
why should we limit ourselves as artists? Just to
play guitar, get drunk and get laid. That’s such a
stereotype. There’s nothing wrong with getting
laid and getting wasted, I’m a hedonist. But there’s
so many different channels that can be adopted
to express our vision, and I’m eager to see what
else is out there because I don’t know. Let’s take it
from here. Let’s take it further, let’s try to elevate
ourselves as much as we can.”
Behemoth plays Vancouver at the Commodore
Ballroom on November 19.
EROSION
BAPTISM BY BLOOD AND VOLUME
ARI ROSENSCHEIN
It’s a dark winter night and a few hundred black-clad
Vancouverites are watching Erosion annihilate the
Astoria, supporting local heavyweights Bison. Like their
debut album, Maximum Suffering (2018 Hydra Head),
Erosion’s performance is grim and efficient. No banter
or instrumental breaks—just punishing songs played at
absurd velocity with vitriolic lyrics of uncommon depth
screamed by bespectacled frontperson Jamie Hooper.
The band describes the album as a “cathartic audio
expulsion of our collective contempt for humanity,” and
it certainly is. Comprised of members of Baptists and
Three Inches of Blood, Erosion deal in short diatribes with
crusty authenticity. It’s aural rancor of the lowest order.
Hooper is sledgehammer direct about the band’s
central message. “Erosion refers to the political, social,
and moral decay around us. Worldwide politics
are terrifying and there’s so much xenophobic-fear
mongering.” He gives a hometown example. “Take a walk
through the DTES and it’s tragically obvious how our
systems are failing marginalized people every day.”
Though based in the province, Hooper doesn’t
consider Erosion a BC—or even a particularly Canadian—
band. “If we had to identify regionally, I think “Pacific
Northwest” fits better. The issues we yell about are global
and our sound takes as much influence from Sweden as it
does from Toronto.”
Speaking of influence, besides drumming in Baptists,
Erosion’s Nick Yacyshyn plays in SUMAC with Hydra
Head-honcho and metal guru Aaron Turner. Hooper
jokes that Erosion “operates on a lot of nepotism and
favours from both the Baptists and SUMAC camps.”
Considering the gap between 2013’s Kill Us All cassette
EP and Maximum Suffering, one might imagine a wait
for new music. Maybe not. “Nick’s a prolific guy,” says
Hooper. “He’s got material waiting for us to contribute
our filth to.” So it’s down to scheduling? “The trick is
getting everyone in a room. Once we’re together, things
happen pretty quick.”
Maximum Suffering is available now via Hydra Head.
Erosion are reflecting on the political, social and moral decay around us.
Photo by Walter Wagner
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