It Could be Quite a While Before We Get Any New Behemoth Music
The Interwebs were all aflutter last month with the news that Behemoth frontman Nergal was quietly working on a solo endeavor he described as “Very stripped down and simple. The most primitive, acoustic-based stuff.” And why wouldn’t be excited? Nergal is one of the most engaging and captivating figures in all of metal, and it’s always fun to see the “other side” of our metal heroes, so to speak. A fifteen-second sample of Nergal’s solo music we got to hear last week certainly didn’t do anything to lower those expectations.
Understandably, it seems as if Nergal’s solo pursuit will stave of the creation of any new Behemoth music for a little while. In an interview with Metal Hammer, he intimates that he’s feeling pressure to top the success of The Satanist as well:
I’m overwhelmed, honestly. It’s suspicious when all the people like a record, but that’s what’s happening. I had this feeling – this is definitely our magnum opus. I’m not sure if it should be continued. I’m just being honest. It’s been a year now, and I haven’t really done any extreme metal ever since, because I’m so happy with what’s happening now. We’re just going to give it some time. Let’s talk one or two years down the road and see what happens then
This revelation is not doom and gloom, as some websites will surely predict — Behemoth are touring all summer, will likely continue to do so in the future, and will surely get back to the studio eventually — it just sounds like a bit of a break. Which if you ask me, is a good thing: musicians need time off from their “day jobs” to shake out their willies and experiment with other sides of their creatives selves. Such sojourns leave them revitalized and even more invigorated than ever when they return to their main squeeze as opposed to feeling like they need to force out “the next Behemoth album” as soon as possible to appease fans and their record label.
In the meantime, we anxiously await Nergal’s solo material. It has the potential to be one of the oddest / most awesome pieces of music we hear all year.
