Adam "Nergal" Darski spent 2026 performing BEHEMOTH's 1995 debut "Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)" in its entirety with Icelandic black metal band MISÞYRMING, marking the record's 30th anniversary. Asked by Jerry Kurunen of Finland's Rauta whether other albums might get the same treatment, he began by admitting how thoroughly he has reversed his own position.
"I remember, it was around 'The Satanist' era, when I would officially mock bands that would do, like, 'Oh, we're doing this album tour,'" he said. "I'd be so proud, like, because 'The Satanist' would be a brand new record... 'Hey, we never did the nostalgic trips, but we are playing the full record, but it's a brand new album.'" His verdict on that stance now: "That was very arrogant of me, thinking and saying that, because eventually I got to the point that I started to be liking those revisits."
There is a practical obstacle. BEHEMOTH are taking an extended break once the upcoming tour ends. "I don't know when and how we're coming back. So I don't know if there's any time to do it in the future."
He still went through the catalogue record by record, and the answers are not diplomatic. "Demigod" is the one he would revisit gladly — an album he says "could even gain more when performed live". "Evangelion" gets a yes. "The Satanist" is a yes but has already been done. "Apostasy" is a no, and "Zos Kia Cultus (Here And Beyond)" a flat no. He went back to the latter recently looking for deep cuts worth reviving, "and there's always something in the song that I'm, like, 'I so don't wanna go there.'"
The dividing line, he explained, is coherence. His ambition as a writer has always been the compact album — and he reached for other people's records to define the term. "JUDAS PRIEST's 'Painkiller' is a coherent album. METALLICA's 'Master Of Puppets' is a coherent album. SLAYER's 'Reign In Blood' is a coherent album." Measured against that, "Demigod" passes, "The Satanist" passes and "The Shit Ov God" passes; "Zos Kia Cultus" and "Thelema.6" do not. On two further records he declined to commit: "The previous two, I'm not sure."
"I always try to make a record that's gonna be wholesome, and when you play it, it's just constant flow, and it's a journey that we take you to join," he concluded. "If you ask me my opinion now, certain records to revisit, yes. Most of them, no."
BEHEMOTH's new eight-song release "I, Scvlptor" is due in September 2026.
Source: blabbermouth.net