BEHEMOTH’s NERGAL on Surviving Leukemia, Finding His Voice & Why Modern Bands Don’t Speak to Him

Behemoth are coming back to Australia in February 2026, and Nergal says it straight: “You might be seeing us at our prime.” In this chat, Jai from Metal On Tap catches up with the man himself to talk 35 years of Behemoth, the new era from The Satanist to The E of God, and why this upcoming Australian run might be the most important one yet. We kick things off in true Aussie fashion – with Nergal calling me an “Aussie cunt” before we’ve even had coffee, then diving into Australia’s drinking culture, brutal alcohol tax, and how craft beer, IPAs and seltzers are taking over. From there we swing hard into contrasts: Slavic doom & gloom vs. our blistering Aussie summer Trading 2°C fog in Poland for beaches, heat and cold beers down under Why Australia is the “crowning point” of their massive world tour Nergal shares some incredible stories: getting stranded in Australia during the Icelandic volcano ash-cloud, sneaking home through a maze of flights, staying in Perth for days just to embrace boredom, sun and books, and the time bats circled over the stage during Behemoth’s Good Things set in Sydney. We also dig deep into the music and the voice: Why he believes the last 4–5 Behemoth albums are their strongest work How surviving leukemia changed his vocal approach forever Moving away from over-layered, guttural walls of sound to a more organic, emotional and understandable roar Creating a voice so distinct you can pick him instantly, whether it’s Behemoth or his feature on Matt Heafy’s Ibaraki project Nergal also talks about legacy bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC, and why you should always buy the ticket while you still can — including for Behemoth. No one knows how long this era of heavy music will last. If you love blackened death metal, extreme art, and unfiltered truth, this one’s for you. ⚔️ LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE if you’re keen for the 2026 Australian shows and tell us which Behemoth song you most want to hear live. #Behemoth #Nergal #MetalOnTap #AustralianTour #ExtremeMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #Jaimunji #ReactionsToMusicThisWeek 🍻 JOIN THE BREW-CREW ON DISCORD:   / discord   🍻 Hang out with fellow metalheads, share tunes, talk gigs, beers & all things heavy! Follow Jaimunji on:► 📺 Twitch:   / jaimunji   📸 Instagram:   / jaimunji_   🌐 Website: https://metalontap.com 👍 Facebook:   / metalontap   Music from https://www.bensound.com I do not own the rights to any of the featured song clips on this video. All credit to the artists and labels. These fall under fair use based on sufficient transformation for the purpose of review, promotion, and commentary. " Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses-such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research-as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use."