“I wanted something that was very direct, stripped of any nuances—like a big fucking punch to wake people up.” That’s what Behemoth ringleader Adam “Nergal” Darski tells Apple Music when asked about the controversial title of the band’s 13th album. While the Polish extreme-metal squad has always dealt in blasphemy and anti-Christian themes—a habit that has landed Nergal in court in his very Catholic homeland—The Shit Ov God might be the apex of their profanation. “I wanted to give people something that in 50 years, even if they don’t remember the band name, they will fucking remember the album title,” he says. “I know it’s controversial, and I did it very deliberately. And it’s already the most talked-about title—next to The Satanist—that we’ve ever had.” As for the idea behind it? “It’s a very common thing to say, ‘You are what you eat,’” he says. “If you are what you digest—religion in this case, but it can be politics, the media, food—and you keep fucking scrolling all day and process all that garbage, you become that. And of course I’m quoting Jesus: ‘This is my body; this is my blood. Eat it. Drink it.’ It’s instant blasphemy, but I think it’s really well put together.” Here Nergal walks through each track on the album. “The Shadow Elite” “I’m super fucking proud of the track, and it’s a great live opener as well. It’s one of the songs that I call a mission statement, and it has this Manowar kind of ‘yes, we are!’ togetherness. All the fucking misfits and outsiders and anarchists and satanists, all of you out there who feel left out, let’s come together, because we are the shadow elite and we have a voice, and this is our voice. Being an outsider is not something to be ashamed of. We go against the current, and this is a badge of honour for us to wear.” “Sowing Salt” “I love the choruses on this one, that ‘march forth’, with all this chanting and almost semi-singing. That’s something I’ve been fond of lately, adding some semi-singing notes to my brutal voice. It’s not clear vocals, but it’s also not entirely a scream. And I’m quite proud of the lead that I laid down at the end of the song. Lyrically, well, in ancient times, if you were a conqueror taking over your enemy’s land and you wanted to defeat them ASAP, you would sow salt instead of grain so nothing can bloom out of the soil. Like the song, it’s absolutely unapologetic, an uncompromising takeover.” The Shit Ov God” “I wanted to have a song that’s like this giant marching Godzilla or something like that, with a very anthemic but rhythmic chorus like ‘God hates us all’ by Slayer. For the lyrics, I was in an airport somewhere listening to Einstürzende Neubauten, and they had this song that used capital letters at the start of each line, and if you add all those capital letters together, they would make another word. Kind of like Nick Cave’s ‘Loverman’: ‘M is for murder,’ blah blah blah. I know there will be controversy: It’s already the most commented-upon thing we’ve done in many years.” “Lvciferaeon” “I don’t want to call it a ’90s black metal vibe, but I love the drive of the song. It has a really big, powerful, anthemic chorus. Personally, I think it’s one of the best choruses that I wrote ever. It’s proper singing, just me but with multiplied vocals. The lyrical concept refers to Baphomet, the king of Antioch and the Templars. Lucifer has been one of the most used leitmotifs in Behemoth’s records and lyrics. It’s one of the archetypes that I always felt strongly associated with. To me, Lucifer stands next to Prometheus and Icarus. It’s a manifestation of human freedom.” “To Drown the Svn in Wine” “I stole that first line from Whitman, the poet: ‘O captain! My captain! Your fearful trip is done.’ And then I continued on my own: ‘Raise anchor and sail ahead. Behold thee, this flower immortal that dares to bloom in hell.’ It’s not a prophecy, but the promise of the end. Usually I don’t know what I’m writing about when I begin, because I never sit down with an intention. It’s automatic writing. As I put them together, I see what’s coming out. But this time, I knew right away. It’s about the passing of my father. He died two years ago. I’m dealing with this fact that the man who made me is no more. It’s probably one of the most emotional lyrics I ever wrote.” “Nomen Barbarvm” “It’s maybe the hidden gem of the record. It’s a very melodic song, very uptempo. Me and [guitarist] Patryk [Sztyber, aka Seth] share a lead section, and I think it’s a brilliant riff. The song is a banger, and I believe this album has the most bangers of all Behemoth albums. In the past, we wrote songs that were meant to play live and songs that were not meant to play live. This time, I wanted everything to be playable live, and this was written with that perspective. My friend Benek [Babalon] wrote the lyrics for this chorus, and I’m jealous because he did a great job. It’s maybe one of the catchiest choruses in Behemoth’s history.” “O Venvs, Come!” “Lucifer is back, just in a different form. The planet Venus has always been associated with [the Sumerian goddess] Inanna, with connections to Lucifer and the Morning Star and so forth. This song has a Bathory kind of vibe that might bring reflections from ’90s Behemoth or early-2000s Behemoth. When I was collecting ideas for this album, I came across this Catholic prayer. I thought if I inverted it and gave it this mocking nature, it might make a cool Me and That Man song. But when I started fucking around with the words, it became way too cool for Me and That Man.” “Avgvr (The Dread Vvltvre) ” “In antiquity, to augur was the skill of reading the omens through observations of the birds. There were wise men and sages who would do this in ancient Rome. They were treated as oracles. The idea was brought to me by Benek Babalon, the dude who, for two records now, he’s polishing my English, so to say. He’s young, he’s very well read, and he’s fluent in five or ten languages. He’s Jewish, he’s a massive Behemoth fan, and he’s a brilliant brain. So I use his brain to make Behemoth sound even more distinct and beautiful. The song has big choruses and a crazy breakdown, and it ends with Patryk’s acoustic guitars. It’s an evil ending that just kind of lingers on. The way it sustains, it sounds like it could be continued.”