Behemoth at Jones Beach
photo by Mathieu Bredeau

Behemoth frontman says he lied about being kicked out of the YMCA

Behemoth at Jones Beach
photo by Mathieu Bredeau

Back in August, Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski posted a video to Instagram where he said he’d been kicked out of a YMCA for wearing a Darkthrone shirt and not believing in Jesus. Now, in a new interview with Kerrang!, Nergal admits that he made up the incident:

First of all, people misinterpret things on the spot. They don’t ask questions anymore. It made headlines everywhere. And I like stirring the shit up – that’s my nature. I like trolling, and I like provoking people. Remember that story of me being rejected from the YMCA? Orion [Behemoth bassist] and I went, but we had to go back to another gym, and I just made up the story that we were rejected because of our beliefs, blah, blah, blah. Man! It made headlines all over the place. People are being fucking outraged… people saying that I should get beaten, that my opponents would just be happy about that. And I’m just reading all these comments and all these headlines and I’m going like, “Why?” No-one would bother to ask me if it’s true – because it wasn’t true – I made up a story. It was again another occasion that I realised how it’s easy to manipulate people, how to fool them around and just make whatever you want to do.

Nergal also addressed the controversy around the “Black Metal against Antifa” shirt he unveiled via Instagram story in October. At the time, after posting the front and back of the shirt itself (which you can see below), he wrote, “some ppl got confused by this post… well… when I make anti-government comments it doesnt mean I’m anti Polish. It actually mean I LOVE Poland coz I care bout it… when I post someone wearing an anti Antifa shirt it doesnt make me an nazi supporter. I’m concerned bout demage they make to the scene… the ideals are ok but the execution of them is utterly incompetent!!! Here comes the great paradox: anti facist organisation being FACISTS themselves. Do u agree or…?”

Speaking to Kerrang! about the shirt, he said:

So we were in Finland and someone left this ‘Black metal against Antifa’ shirt, and one of the guys wore it. So, again, I took a photo of that and made a quick comment. From my observation, every time I hear about concert cancellations from bands that I know, and I know for a fact that are everything but political – the last thing you could say about Bölzer and several others – is that they’re fascists. They are not. Because if they were fascists, we wouldn’t be friends. Everyone now who knows me knows that I am anti any totalitarian regime. So I made the point that, “Hey, Antifa, if you guys want to fight fascism, use your brain first”, you know? Because you’re aiming [at] the wrong targets. And I’m pissed off, because it’s stupid. And it’s also the reason that the world is so imbalanced.

It’s one radicalism replaced by another. All of a sudden, I was accused of being sentimental about Hitler, which I find, frankly, disgusting. Why would you even say that? That’s stupid. So I came up with this metaphor. The way that the world thinks, these days, in its majorities, is like, “Are you against Hitler?” You say, “Yes, I am against Hitler.” “Well then, you must be a Stalin supporter.” Or, “You’re against Stalin? Then you must be pro-Hitler.” That’s how people think these days. They think black and white. There are no in-betweens, no grey spots. There’s no middle ground. It’s either this or that. The world is bipolar, all the way through. Which is very unjust, and stupid.

So for me, it’s like, “Guys, give me the right to think that both are assholes, and they killed 50 million people.” I want to be in the middle, and I’m in the middle and I have my opinion: both [sides] are shitty. So hey, Antifa, I know that I generalise. Someone kinda gave me some extra knowledge; that there’s a German Antifa that actually know what they’re doing, and I don’t really know much about that – I just know that they attack venues, they attack people physically, but on many occasions they just don’t know who those people are.

And if you follow my social media, you know that I’m pro-LGBT, I’m always pro-womens’ rights. When it comes to black metal, I’m way too liberal for how conservative this genre is. But then again I’m way too old to pretend. Whenever I think the world is unjust, and there is no justice, I just say something. And I understand that for some people it’s not very comfortable, what I’m saying. But the last thing you should do is to accuse me of any radicalism. I said that several times, too: I love my art to be radical and extreme. This is the spot where I go. This is my place. But offstage? Man, I’m just a liberal with a big mouth. That’s all I am.

Nergal has previously defended wearing a Bölzer shirt and denied being racist or fascist.

Behemoth Black Metal Against Antifa