I recently had the chance to sit down with bassist Orion from the Polish death metal outfit, Behemoth. We talked about a year since ‘The Satanist’, older Behemoth material, favorite concert experiences and more.
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Q – First off, how are you doing?
Orion – I’m great, thanks. It’s a great day and with good weather, finally. We just came from the north, so it’s nice to be here in Florida.
Q – I know it’s pretty different from what you’re probably used too. Do you prefer the warmer weather?
Orion – Well, I like both. There’s ways to enjoy the cold weather as well, but not really on tour, so when I’m on tour I really like it to be like this.
Q – You guys are at the end of your current tour with Cannibal Corpse, Aeon and Tribulation. How has this tour been treating you so far?
Orion – It’s been a long one. We’ve been through six weeks of it, I believe, with tomorrow being the last show. I think it’s the best US tour we’ve ever done, it’s a great package, good bands, a lot of friends, and there’s a lot of people coming to the shows. It seems like it’s happening at the moment when everything’s just happening for us. It’s been really great, and I’ve really enjoyed it.
Q – What are some of the biggest differences that have made this one of the best, if not the best US tour for you guys?
Orion – We’ve been working on what we have at the moment, for the last at least ten years. It just feels like whatever we’ve been trying for through all these years, we’re just having it right now. For the first time ever we’ve finally brought in some of the production to the states, we’re having the best turnouts ever here. I mean, we’re co-headlining with Cannibal Corpse, that’s a big thing for us.
Q – Did you ever think back then joining Behemoth that you would ever get to this point?
Orion – I was twenty three back then, which was twelve years ago, that wasn’t really what I was thinking about. I wasn’t thinking about where would I get, I just wanted to do what I was doing. I just wanted to enjoy my time with this band because I’m a fan of this band. But yeah, it takes time to understand your goals and aims. I was a different person back then when I was only twenty three.
Q – Before the beginning of this tour Behemoth performed on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise. How was that whole experience for you personally?
Orion – That was amazing. Being on a cruise, on this beautiful ship, having the chance to see Jamaica, and to do whatever exertions we wanted too…. but to still have your fans there and to be playing shows for them, that was just a great time, and I would love to do it again.
Q – I would think it was a good way to play for people who may have been unfamiliar with Behemoth? It had a very eclectic lineup, to say the least.
Orion – I believe so. 70k I believe is three thousand tickets, so yes, some of them were definitely our fans, but some were new to Behemoth. Hopefully we introduced ourselves well to the ones that had never heard of us.
Q – ‘The Satanist’ turned a year old around a month ago. How do you personally still feel about the album now one year later?
Orion – With this album we feel like it has big potential. There’s been all of this buzz around the media lately with Nergal saying there may be no record in the future, and people just keep asking questions, It’s all really about ‘The Satanist’ itself, what this answer is. We’re still thinking about this one, doing whatever we can to support this album, we’re just not thinking about a new album yet. It’s a very long story with this album, we’ve never done anything more personal. But at the same time it feels like we’ve done our opus magnum, that’s what we feel about this album. And it’s all still going, the promotional cycle and the touring process and everything, that’s still going to last for another year, maybe a year and a half.
Q – Would you say that Behemoth is bigger now than it’s ever been? It seems like it’s been able to do things previous albums haven’t, both with the media and the fans.
Orion – Yes, things are still increasing for us. We just have so many projects at the moment running at the same time, so many ideas, so many things happening around this album, We want to keep it going, it’s been great, it’s still inspirational for us even if it’s been a year since.
Q – It’s been twenty years now since the release of the first Behemoth album, ‘Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)’. Though you weren’t in the band at the time, how do you feel it still stands up with the rest of the discography?
Orion – Everything has it’s place in history, and the way I look at the first Behemoth album … I just look at myself being a teenager in Poland, and seeing whatever was happening outside of Poland with black metal. and seeing the Polish scene back then. I heard the album right as it came out, but I don’t know if it was really something that was standing out to me back then. I don’t think it was. This whole flaw of black metal bands or pagan metal bands back then. It was just different times and different perspectives and circumstances. Sometimes we even prepare songs from this album to play live, we rearrange them to add one or two to the setlist whenever we can. It was a necessary step somehow, the way I see it.
Q – Is it ever weird or challenging taking the old songs, to anew them to play live now?
Orion – I love it, I love challenges. I really love taking all of the the super old stuff and rearranging it to make it sound like how Behemoth sounds nowadays. It’s actually a very enjoyable procedure.
Q – What’s the best concert you’ve ever attended that you did not play?
Orion – I don’t think I could pick one, but I can do top three. Metallica in Poland, it was amazing. I was this close to crying, seriously(laughs), no matter how cheesy that sounds. Rammstein definitely, they’re one of the best live bands ever, what they do on stage is just beyond everything. And Motley Crue with their full circus production, and that just blew me away.
