By Carl Begai
It’s a safe bet that nobody expected the man responsible for Behemoth’s soul-wrenching metal and creating albums such as Satanica, Demigod, The Apostasy, and The Satanist would turn around and release a record of original songs steeped in American country, blues and folk. But, in 2017 Adam “Nergal” Darski did exactly that, much to the unexpected delight of the metal world. Sure, not everybody bought into it, but the positive feedback from those fans that gave Songs Of Love And Death a chance was enough to cement Nergal’s belief that he was onto something. Thus, following the release of Behemoth’s critically acclaimed I Loved You At Your Darkest in 2018, he set to writing songs for the album that would become New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1. His game plan was different this time out, however, as Nergal was no longer working with collborator John Porter, and he brought in a host of vocalists to take over the singing duties he’d looked after on the debut. The end result is an album that is very different from Songs Of Love And Death yet remains uniquely Me And That Man, even though Nergal is the first person in line to call the music cliché.
“I was positively surprised by how the debut was received,” Nergal begins. “It wasn’t magnificent. It was good and very good, and I think the debut is a solid album. It’s legit, it’s honest, and it’s pretty well done. It was my debut when it comes to using my regular voice as a singer, so I can hear that when I listen to the album now. I was still learning, so when I listen to ‘Mestwo’ on the new album – the only song that I did the vocals for – I can hear the progress that I’ve made. But yeah, I was surprised that people didn’t want to lynch me for the first record (laughs). We had a good following, and every time I would do an interview for Behemoth, every third person would tell me how much they love Me And That Man. It was a job well done, that’s for sure.”
Metal fans are arguably the most open-minded music fans in the world. According to Nergal, the number of Behemoth fans that gave him stick for Me And That Man when the project initially surfaced were in a very clear minority.
“I’m pretty immune to people’s expectations because art, in the first place, is made to satisfy your own ego. You want to get it out of your system and you have to be happy with it. After that you bring it to the masses and if they don’t like it, what can I say? I’m fulfilled regardless. You, as a listener, can make my life even more complete than it is by enjoying the music that I’m making and supporting it. That makes the world perfect for an artist. The bottom line for Me And That Man is to get these guys together, play some stripped down rock n’ roll, and have fun.”
Continue reading BraveWords Interview: ME AND THAT MAN – How To Build A Better Monster