Interview with Tomasz "Orion" Wroblewski of Behemoth

Hey, how are you today?

I’m very well, thank you. Enjoying my day off in New Orleans.

"I Loved You At Your Darkest" Album Art

The new album “I Loved You At Your Darkest” is out in only a few short weeks, are you excited to have it out there?

We’ve been all super busy recently with all pre-release promotion activities, that’s why we’re a little late with some press. So the album is out already and we’re beyond stoked. We’ve done more than ever before for album promotion, press tours, art exhibits, it’s been going on for over two months before we left for this US tour that we’re on now. It does feel exciting, but also it’s like a relief, it’s been a long time since we started working on ILYAYD. So it’s out there, it’s all yours now.

What's the story behind the album title? It's a little different for Behemoth's standards.

We’ve been going by this one strong word standard for years now. We all though it couldn’t really go any further than ‘The Satanist’. Exploring all over again the same formula didn’t really feel like a challenge. We’ve just decided to change the direction and “I Loved You At Your Darkest" is grammatically a full sentence, and in the matter of sense – it’s simply filled with meanings. Especially if it goes for the title of such thing as Behemoth album. These words are supposedly said by Jesus Christ himself, which makes it even more interesting. The title came as one of the very first things for this album, long before music or artwork ideas – and somehow it showed the direction.

Of course, this album has to follow up the critically acclaimed “The Satanist”, did this cause more stress on writing this album?

Do you think it would cost less stress, if our previous album was horrible and disliked? There’s some stress around everything we do, but it’s just this much as we need to stay creative. Doing anything under a strong pressure doesn’t really bring out good outcome. We’re totally aware of the responsibility that’s on us. But we take it. We know why we’re here, we know the way we went, and we feel strong about what we do. We believe it all makes sense and so what you get is a piece of our flesh and blood, it’s done with passion and heart. These things are stronger than any doubt. When we work on the album, it’s like nothing else existed.


What are some of the lyrical themes behind this album? The press have kept a strong hold on how this is the most “blasphemous” thing Behemoth has done.

These are the things we’d rather leave for all the people to dig into. From my own perspective, there’ s not really much new within the topics here, comparing to previous albums. Themes change, but usually to say about the very same things. Everything has been already said and we’re not trying to reinvent any concept here. It’s like in poetry (actually, one of the songs is a poem, changed a bit for our needs), the tools don’t matter that much as does the though in-between them. But the tools are usually the only thing people see. So they see Nergal on the cross in albums booklet and they say it’s the most blasphemous Behemoth album. That’s their perspective and I'm fine with it.

What can we expect with the upcoming tours for the album? "The Satanist" was capped off playing the album in full, will you be doing the same this time around?

We’ve just stared touring for ILYAYD and this feels like the new experience. We’re still accommodating to entirely new set-list and production. We were willing to give people much more than before and it’s all happening now, so we’ve re-build stage setup, lights and so on. For now, we’re playing 5 new songs and that’s enough. This band has 11 albums out and we’re willing to keep the set diverse, with new album songs at some most important spots. We open and close shows like on the album too. We’ll see how it goes, it’s possible we’ll do a full-album shows in the future, but for now we’re trying to stay focused on things we’re doing now.

Fans were introduced to the first taste of new music before the summer when you were out on tour with Slayer. How did the audience respond to “Wolves Ov Siberia”?

Really well. It’s a fast, yet simple song. It’s a powerful statement. There’s always voices for all points of view, but we felt it was the right choice. This entire Slayer tour was an amazing experience. On the
level of fans reception – we were there to show what the band is to this wider audience that Slayer and other bands on the bill bring. But on a personal level – it felt like being a kid again. Im so happy we had this opportunity to do it.

Tell us a little about being out on the final Slayer tour. You guys were a stand out band bringing full aesthetics and of course, a very extreme style.

These are the heroes from the posters in my room when I was a kid. It’s unbelievable, to get their invitation, to share the stage with them, maintain some sort of friendship, participate in day-to-day tour life with them. Things I would never even think of, back then when I had all these posters on my walls, became a daily basis for the time of these two tours we’ve done with them. The feeling is impossible to explain.


Anything fans should expect going into “I Loved You At Your Darkest”?
I believe all fans know what can they expect from us. And we deliver. Both, things they expect and the unexpected. Last but not least, anything you would like to share with your fans? We’re walking into this new era with this album, and I’m grateful to all of you, who make it possible for us. Thank you for keeping the spirit alive, for supporting us throughout all these years. Thanks to you, we have millions of reasons to continue!


Thank you very much for your time, Orion.


"I Loved You At Your Darkest", is available now for purchase through Metal Blade Records or at your local record store!