MetalSucks has posted a great in-depth interview with Nergal, frontman of Behemoth. This was Nergal's first interview since his leukemia diagnosis and recovery and it's an absolute must-read for any Behemoth fan. Here are some choice quotes:
On the incredible response he received from the metal community after the announcement of his leukemia:
I can tell you this now [pauses]… that it was very early after I got sick that the foundation found a perfect donor match. But we didn’t want to reveal this to the public because of [the movement to help] was so awesome. The ball was rolling! And everyone was into it, so I was like, “Fuck, no! I don’t want to fucking stop this!” It was madness to me! People went crazy doing anything to help. It was just awesome. I can tell you — not just to make people fuckin’ cry — but there were times that I’d be reading comments and emails from people, and there were tears in my eyes. It was very humanitarian. Shit, I don’t know what you call it, but it was awesome. There are lots of people who appreciate what you do musically, they fuckin’ appreciate you as a person and individual, and they have faith in you. That is awesome.
Nergal on missing touring:
Man, when I was in the hospital, I called up Seth [Patryk "Seth" Sztyber, Behemoth guitarist] and told him, “I have this dream again and again about the Demigod tour [in 2004] when we were playing all these shitholes in the U.S. for a hundred or two hundred people; we got paid like $200 and got pizza for dinner. And you know what? I fuckin’ miss that pizza! I miss the smell of the crappy backstage!
When you can expect Behemoth back on the road:
We want to start rehearsing in, say, six weeks. We’ll be rehearsing all the songs, jam out, and we want to be ready for some shows in a few months. We want to do first shows in Poland in October. I know it’s still six months away, but we’re gonna fuckin’ do it.
He went on to say the band plans to see how the October shows go and then aim to tour Asia and Australia in the Winter, followed by Europe in early 2012 and the U.S. in Spring 2012. Nergal is superhuman and will not let leukemia bring him down!
I highly recommend reading the rest of the interview featuring Nergal's hilarious thoughts on the new Iron Maiden record, more in-depth discussion of his recovery and more.
