Gelap Pekat

Polish extreme metal veterans BEHEMOTH were honored in the "Album Of The Year (Heavy Metal)" category at this year's Fryderyk Awards, Poland's most prestigious music award ceremony. Awards were presented in over 20 pop, classical and jazz categories at the event, which was held on April 19 in Warsaw, Poland.

Commented BEHEMOTH guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski: "There are different priorities we care about and hunt for and awards is the last on this list, I can assure you. However, we are happy that someone noticed our hard work and determination and this award is proof that [BEHEMOTH's latest studio album] 'Evangelion' definitely made a statement! We couldn't be more proud of this record. Thank you for voting."

The Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV), comprised of nearly 800 performing artists, record industry professionals, and music journalists, acts as the jury for the Fryderyk Awards. It was founded in December 1999 at the initiative of ZPAV members to honor artists nominated to the Fryderyk Awards.

BEHEMOTH was nominated in five categories at this year's Fryderyk Awards:

* Production Of The Year
* Best Album Artwork
* Album Of The Year (Heavy Metal)
* Band Of The Year
* Video Of The Year ("Ov Fire And The Void")

Full "Album Of The Year (Heavy Metal)" nominees were as follows:

* AMETRIA - Nowy dzien
* BEHEMOTH - Evangelion
* HUNTER - Hellwood
* TURBO - Straznik swiatla
* VADER - Necropolis

In an interview with Metal As Fuck, Darski talked about the fact that he recently won the Gdansk Young Culture Creators award, which recognizes young people for their contribution to a country's culture — a far cry from the allegations that keep following BEHEMOTH.

"It's funny — it's a big contradiction," he said. "On one hand there's all these accusations of us being Public Enemy Number 1, we should be prison, we should be stabbed and burned. And then on the other hand we are winning everything on the way. It's crazy and awesome at the same time. On one hand, we are doing something very artistic and it's always recognized and respected by a renowned group of people — the BEHEMOTH fans. And now it seems like the big people in the mainstream media recognize that there is a band that does something for this country and it's good and quality — and it's art, and it's recognized in the world. And that's a good feeling; it's something that is, in a way, humorous.

"In one of the biggest polish magazines, The Activist, we picked up the award for the best band, and we picked up awards with all these big pop artists. It's awesome, it's good."

In a summer 2009 interview with Decibel magazine, Darski and BEHEMOTH bassist Orion (real name: Tomasz Wróblewski) both admitted that they have given serious consideration to moving away from Poland. "The more places we see, the less connected we feel with the place we live in," Wróblewski said. "All of them seem more attractive than Poland. But you get used to a place where you live, and it's kind of hard to move. But it's possible, yes."

"I'm always thinking about it," Darski admitted. "I was just in New York for a few days, and I was thinking about it then. I mean, I'm rooted here, right? I've got my family here; I've got a nice apartment; I've got a few friends. And I was born here. But I would have no problems to live my life a few months in Poland and maybe a few months somewhere else. If one day I fall in love in Portugal or Brazil, I'm not gonna think twice. I'll buy an apartment in one of those countries and just move there and try to live a normal life."

Darski continued, "I can't understand why people come to Poland and say, 'Oh, this country is so nice and the people are so cool.' I tell them, 'No — these people are not cool. It's just a façade. They just pretend. Deep in their hearts, they are evil human beings.' You see, people in this country are very backward-thinking and very conservative. People who don't grow up here don't know the reality, and they will never find out."