Stereoboard Talk To Polish Black Metallers Behemoth Ahead Of Their Bloodstock Headline Performance
Wednesday, 01 August 2012
Written by Ben Bland
Firstly I ought to ask you how you’re feeling about returning to ‘action’ so to speak after your terrible problems with illness. What’s it been like returning to playing with Behemoth? First of all it is good to be here, to be alive! I mean, it was obviously very difficult going through the illness but to be here on the other side is fantastic. I am absolutely raring to go and playing with Behemoth is all I really want to do right now, for this band to be stronger than ever.
You’re headlining Bloodstock in August, an event you were forced to drop out of a couple of years back, how are you feeling about stepping up to headline an event of this size?
We are massively looking forward to it. I think our set might surprise a few people because it is going to be a full on show. For the first time I think we are bringing our full stage set over from Poland to the UK and it is going to be massive.
What would you say to some of the people that perhaps doubt that Behemoth has what it takes to headline the event?
Haha, to those people I think I would just say wait and see because we DEFINITELY have what it takes. I don’t have any doubt about that.
Would it be accurate to say that a Behemoth show is very much about the spectacle as well as the music? How important is that to you? Would you be comfortable still playing a show where it was just three guys on stage playing their instruments?
Well obviously we have had to strip things down a bit on some tours in the past, because we have not been able to travel with a massive amount of stuff. We aim to put on the best show whatever happens but obviously it helps if you can make a proper spectacle out of it. I think that is a very important side to the Behemoth live experience.
Do you feel more pressure than usual with writing this album?
In a way I guess. I mean this album is probably going to get more attention than any previous Behemoth album has - it might be the most important album that we release in our careers. It will be a really honest album; that is for sure. I think recent times have made us approach things more by instinct as much as anything, so it will be interesting to see how that affects the record.
Of course, this will be a new sounding Behemoth album, because I think all our albums are different. We aren’t interested in making the same record twice. I think it will be a great album, we have got some promising ideas in place right now.
Do you think that some of the controversy associated with the band back in Poland has actually helped you gain a larger following?
I guess maybe it has given us a bit of a reputation. I can’t take it too seriously really - it is all bullshit that stuff.
My research informs me that you have recently been acting as a judge on Polish TV show “The Voice of Poland”. What was that like?
Haha that was…different, yes! It was a really good experience, and I had a good time doing it but some of the music was not perhaps 100% to my taste. However, I expected that and it was something that I am glad I did.
Looking back now, from your position as a fairly big metal band, what would you say have been the real highlights of your career with Behemoth to date?
I don’t necessarily like to look back at highlights. I think the highlights of this band are always still to come. I think the Bloodstock show you mentioned will be a highlight. I think we are going to go from strength to strength. Being able to do that, having come back from illness, is really the biggest highlight I think I could pick out.
Behemoth headline the Friday night on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock.
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First of all it is good to be here, to be alive! I mean, it was obviously very difficult going through the illness but to be here on the other side is fantastic. I am absolutely raring to go and playing with Behemoth is all I really want to do right now, for this band to be stronger than ever.
