Adam Nergal Darski (born Adam Michał Darski, 10 June 1977), often referred to by his stage name Nergal, is a Polish musician, best known as the frontman of the

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Behemoth Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...

Career

Nergal was born Adam Michał Darski in

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

, raised Catholic, and started playing guitar at age eight. He goes by the stage name

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...

(naming himself after a Babylonian deity), and he is the founder, lyricist, main composer, frontman and manager of the band Behemoth, which he started when he was still a teenager. He also plays lead, rhythm and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. For a brief time, he used the alias Holocausto, inspired by

Beherit Beherit is a Finnish black metal band from Rovaniemi. The band was formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), Demonic Fornication (Jari Vaarala) and Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen), with the purpose of performing "the most ...

leader Nuclear Holocausto. In the late 1990s, he was a vocalist and guitarist of the Danzig-influenced band, Wolverine, which was showcasing Nergal's capability of clean singing. He is also known for his contributions with the following bands: Hermh,

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

, Damnation, Vader,

Sweet Noise Sweet Noise is a Polish alternative metal band. The group was formed in 1990 in Swarzędz. They have released eight CDs (included two international versions) and appeared three times at the Przystanek Woodstock festival with the special show in ...

, Mastiphal, December's Fire, Mess Age, Corruption, Hangover,

Ex Deo Ex Deo is a Canadian death metal band formed in Montreal, Quebec in 2008. The band is a side project of Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono, and is based on the history of the Roman Empire. History Ex Deo was formed in 2008 as an artistic proj ...

, and Hefeystos. Inspired by Norway's

Black Circle ''Black Circle'' (or ''motive 1915'') is a 1924 oil-on-canvas painting by the Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich, founder of the Suprematism movement. From the mid-1910s, Malevich abandoned any trace of figurature or representation fro ...

, Nergal formed together with Blasphemous (from the band Veles) and Venom (from Xantotol) the Temple of Infernal Fire. Later other bands joined and

far-right politics Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

were introduced, and the group renamed the Temple of Fullmoon. Nergal then distanced himself from the group, mainly because he had no interest in politics. This led to remaining members of the Temple of Fullmoon to accuse Behemoth of betrayal and caused tensions between Nergal and

Rob Darken Robert Fudali (born 15 December 1969), better known as Rob Darken, is a Polish musician and singer, best known for being the frontman for black metal band Graveland. He has also contributed to other local bands, such as Fullmoon, Veles, Infer ...

, frontman of the Polish NSBM band

Graveland Graveland are a Polish neo-Nazi pagan black metal band which was formed in 1991 by Rob Darken (born Robert Fudali). They began as a black metal band before adopting a pagan and Viking metal style. The lyrics and imagery of Graveland are str ...

, leading to death threats. Several years later, the tensions are gone and Nergal and Darken are on good terms nowadays; as Nergal said in an interview: "We don't share the same interests but we share a mutual respect." In 2009, ESP guitars released the first Nergal's signature guitar. It is a 7-string guitar with a V-style body, which is called the "Hex-7". Nergal started a solo project alongside John Porter called Me and that Man, which focuses on

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

. The project's debut album titled ''Songs of Love and Death'' was released on 24 March 2017. The project's follow-up album, ''New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1'' was released on 27 March 2020, and features guest vocals from

Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist, guitarist, ly ...

Niklas Kvarforth Niklas Olsson (born 7 December 1983), better known as Niklas Kvarforth, is a Swedish musician. He is the founder, composer and vocalist of the black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits ...

Matt Heafy Matthew Kiichi Heafy ( ; born January 26, 1986) is a Japanese-American musician, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for heavy metal band Trivium. He was also the lead vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former pro ...

Ihsahn Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn ( ), is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer who is best known for his work with the black metal band Emperor (Norwegian band ...

, and others.

Other ventures

Nergal has completed six years of history, including one year of Latin at

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk () is a public university, public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History The Universi ...

, and is qualified to be a

museum curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

. In 2011, he assumed the position of a coach on the Polish TV show ''

The Voice of Poland ''The Voice of Poland'' is a Polish reality television, reality talent show that premiered on September 3, 2011, on the TVP 2 television network. ''The Voice of Poland'' is part of the international syndication ''The Voice (franchise), The Voice' ...

''. In July 2012, Nergal became the newest spokesman for Demon Energy drinks that would be distributed throughout Poland. Nergal appeared in full Behemoth attire on the front of four different flavors of the Demon Energy brand alongside the brand's

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

of "No Limits, No Laws". Darski reportedly donated the majority of funds for this limited edition placement to one of the world's most renowned bone marrow donor centers.

Legal issues

In March 2010, Nergal was held on trial in Poland on

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

charges for publicly denouncing religion by ripping up a Bible on stage in 2007. Nergal made the argument that he has artistic license to enhance his live performances by doing such an action, and suggested that it was not meant to be offensive. He also believes that freedom of speech should come before religion in Poland. He faced up to two years in prison due to the Bible-tearing, but Darski's charges were dropped on 28 June 2010. In October 2012, Nergal returned to the Polish Supreme Court regarding the 2007 incident where he tore up a Bible and denounced the Catholic Church. The Supreme Court ruled that Darski could be guilty of the crime of "

offending religious feelings Offending religious feelings could refer to: * Offending religious feelings (Philippines) *Offending religious feelings (Poland) Offending religious feelings () is a blasphemy law in Poland. According to Article 196 of the Penal Code: "Whoever of ...

" even though he did not act with the "direct intention" of doing so. The case was returned to a lower court which found him guilty of "intentionally insulting the Holy Bible" but the following appeal dismissed the case due to the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

. He was sued in 2019 again under the "offending religious feelings" doctrine after displaying a

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

statuette in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

video; he was acquitted in 2025. In 2019, he caused controversy after posting photos of a t-shirt emblazoned with the message “''Black metal against Antifa. Kill them. Show no mercy. Fuck Antifa!''”.

Personal life

From mid-2009 through early 2011, he was in a highly publicized relationship with

Dorota Rabczewska Dorota Aqualiteja Rabczewska (Polish: ; born 15 February 1984), known professionally as Doda, is a Polish singer-songwriter, film producer, producer, actress and television personality. A three-time MTV Europe Music Award winner, she is among t ...

, a Polish pop singer professionally known as Doda. On 17 March 2011, News.pl reported the couple had called off the engagement and broken up. In 2012, Darski legally changed his middle name to 'Nergal'. Since 2014, Nergal has been the co-owner of three barbershops in Poland—two in Warsaw and one in his hometown, Gdańsk. In 2015, he opened a nightclub in

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

named Libation. He has expressed support for the

abortion-rights movement Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...

and for

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Health

On 8 August 2010, Nergal was rushed to the hematology ward of the Gdańsk Medical University Hospital for treatment of a then-undisclosed illness. All Behemoth shows through November 2010, including Russian and North American tours, were cancelled. On 24 August 2010, Darski was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. The illness was thought to have advanced far enough to make

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

ineffective, but such reports have since been proven false. His then-fiancée Dorota Rabczewska-Stępień offered to donate her marrow, but her marrow didn't match. On 8 November 2010, following his then-girlfriend's appeal to the wider public, which has been met with a great response, Darski underwent treatment to receive a bone marrow transplant. Nergal was discharged from the Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) hospital in Gdańsk on 16 January 2011, three weeks after undergoing a bone marrow transplantation. "Adam feels good and is resting comfortably but cannot see any visitors as he can’t risk viral infections", said his ex-fiancée, Doda. However, Nergal was readmitted to the hematology division of Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) in Gdańsk after he developed an infection six weeks later. At the time, it was not immediately clear if the infection would affect Nergal's adoption of the bone marrow transplant and how long he would have to remain in hospital. On 30 March 2011, MetalSucks published an interview with Nergal where he said that his health was improving. As of the interview, he had been out of the hospital for several weeks, and, according to Darski, "everything is going according to plan".

Equipment

; Guitars * B.C. Rich Warlock 6 string * Jackson Kelly 6 string * Jackson Rhoads 6 string * Gibson Flying V 6 string * Gibson Explorer (EMG 81/85 Setup) 6 String * Ibanez RG 7620 7 string * Mayones Signum Gothic 6 String * Flame EXG Custom 7 string * Dean V 6 string * ESP LTD EC-1000 6 string * ESP LTD Ninja-600 Michael Amott Signature 6 String * ESP STEF-7 7 string * ESP M-7 Super Long Scale 7 string * ESP V Custom 6 String * ESP LTD HEX-7 Nergal Signature 7 String * ESP V-II *

Gretsch White Falcon The Gretsch White Falcon is an electric hollow-body guitar introduced in 1954 by Gretsch. This guitar was created as a "showpiece" to exhibit the craft of Gretsch's luthiers, sales, and demonstration representative, Jimmie Webster, who created ...

* ESP LTD PHOENIX-1000 * ESP LTD Nergal-6 * ESP LTD Nergal NS-6 ; Mark L Rack * Mark L MIDI Control System F-25 * Mark L Loop & Switch LS-14 * Mark L Power Station Custom * Mark L Mini Line Mixer * Eventide Time Factor * Ibanez TS-808 * Boss Pitch * ISP Decimator Pro Rack G * Dunlop Custom Rack Wah * Mogami Cable * Furman Power * Korg DTR 1 Tuner * Neutrik & Switchcraft ; Amplifiers * Laboga Mr. Hector * Krank Krankenstein * Hellstone Prodigy * Mesa Dual Rectifier * Bogner Uberschall * Sommatone Signature Outlaw Head ; Other * Morley wah pedal * Nologo Behemoth custom picks

Discography

Behemoth

Me and that Man

*''Songs of Love and Death'' (2017) *''New Man, New Songs, Same Shit: Vol. 1'' (2020) *''New Man, New Songs, Same Shit: Vol. 2'' (2021)

Guest appearances

*Mastiphal – ''Nocturnal Landscape'' (1994; drums) *Hermh – ''Crying Crown of Trees'' (1996; bass guitar) *December's Fire – ''Vae Victis'' (1996; vocals) *Damnation – ''Coronation'' (1997; bass guitar) *Hefeystos – ''Psycho Cafe'' (1998; vocals) *Hangover – ''Terrorbeer'' (2002; vocals) * Vader – '' Revelations'' (2002; vocals) *Mess Age – ''Self-Convicted'' (2002; vocals) *Corruption – ''Orgasmusica'' (2003; vocals) *

– ''Revolta'' (2003; vocals) *

Frontside In surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and aggressive inline skating, frontside and backside are terms that are used to describe how a person approaches an obstacle or performs a certain trick. In aggressive inline skating, frontside and backsid ...

– ''Teoria Konspiracji'' (2008; vocals) *

The Amenta The Amenta are an Australian extreme metal band formed in 1997 as Crucible of Agony. By 2002 the line-up was Cesium 137 (aka Mark Bevan) on lead vocals, Diazanon (Dave Haley) on drums, Ethion (Erik Miehs) on guitar, Endrin (Nathan Jenkins) on b ...

– ''n0n'' (2008; vocals) *

– ''

Romulus Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...

'' (2009; vocals) *Vulgar – ''The Professional Blasphemy'' (2010; vocals) *

Czesław Śpiewa Czesław, (, , ) is an old given name derived from the Slavic names, Slavic elements ''ča'' (to await) and ''slava'' (glory). Feminine form: Czesława/Česlava. The name may refer to: * Ceslaus, Christian Saint * Czesław Białobrzeski, Polish p ...

– ''Pop'' (2010; vocals) *

Root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

– ''Heritage of Satan'' (2011; vocals) *Voodoo Gods – ''Shrunken Head'' (2012; vocals) *Grzegorz Skawiński – ''Me & My Guitar'' (2012; guitar) *

Maciej Maleńczuk Mirosław Maciej Maleńczuk (August 14, 1961) is a Polish vocalist, guitarist, poet, former leader of music groups Püdelsi and Homo Twist, also known as „barda Krakowa” (bard of Kraków). He performed as a guest with Behemoth and was a judge ...

– ''Psychocountry'' (2012; vocals) *

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

– '' The Lone Furrow'' (2020; vocals) * Ibaraki - ''Rashomon'' (2022; vocals)

Filmography

* ''Historia polskiego rocka'' (2008, documentary, directed: Leszek Gnoiński, Wojciech Słota) *'' Ambassada'' (2013)

Publications

* A. Darski, P. Weltrowski, K. Azarewicz, ''Spowiedź heretyka. Sacrum Profanum'', G+J Gruner+Jahr Poland 2012,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darski, Adam 1977 births Living people Behemoth (band) members Black metal musicians Black metal singers Polish death metal musicians Lead guitarists People from Gdynia Polish heavy metal guitarists Polish heavy metal singers Polish keyboardists Polish Satanists University of Gdańsk alumni English-language singers from Poland Polish lyricists Former Roman Catholics Polish critics of Christianity People charged with blasphemy 20th-century Polish male singers 21st-century Polish male singers 21st-century Polish singers Polish male guitarists