Behemoth frontman Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski recently joined Total Guitar for an interview during which he described Slayer’s Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman as Gods.
Nergal rose to prominence throughout Behemoth’s career with his distinctive vocal style. Moreover, the singer avoided labeling the band as he doesn’t like using titles while describing Behemoth’s sound. The band played with several other artists and supported many of them during tours. Slayer was one of the music acts Behemoth went on a tour with, and they hit the road together in 2009, 2017, and 2018.
In a recent interview with Total Guitar, Nergal revealed his thoughts on his vocals. Saying that he has an intuitive approach, the singer stated he only tries to find the right notes and ends up with pentatonic ones. Moreover, Nergal said he is not the only one who does the licks for the band, and Seth is doing more leads with a different skill set.
Saying that crossing between two different styles makes an exciting combo, Nergal argued it’s what Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King do. Nergal also stated that he is a massive Slayer fan and added that Hanneman and King are both Gods who have a trademark for crossing over. He also mentioned Judas Priest and said they have two different guitarists to achieve this sound.
In the interview with Total Guitar, Nergal said the following:
“I don’t really know much theory. My brain seemed to reject a lot of that knowledge. My approach is intuitive. I try to find the right notes, and quite often, they are pentatonic ones because those are what I learned.
If it was just me doing the licks for Behemoth, maybe it would get a little boring. But Seth is doing more leads now, and his skill set is very different. It makes for an interesting combo, crossing between two distinct styles.
I’m a big Slayer fan, and it’s the same with Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. They were both gods, and they had that trademark of crossing over. The same goes for Judas Priest: two very different guitarists with unique skills. That’s what made those bands magical for me.”
According to Nergal, things would get boring if he was just the only one who does the lyrics for Behemoth. Nevertheless, he believes that Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King do the same as Behemoth does, and they are Gods because of that.
