ET: Congratulations with your latest album, Zos Kia Cultus – Here And Beyond.
In my opinion the best extreme metal-album of the year.
N: Thank you, I really appreciate it man.

ET: And how has the feedback from the press been so far?
N: Pretty good so far. I`ve just seen the Scream review, with 5 points out of 6, so I`m pleased with that you know. We’ve also got some pretty good reviews elsewhere, so it seems that the media, press and especially the fans appreciate what we’ve done. And that’s probably the most important for us, that our fans like it.

ET: How would you describe the biggest difference between Zos Kia Cultus and the previous Thelema.6?
N: It’s a much tighter album, much heavier you know? It’s much more bass. Thelema was much more Slayer-like blackmetal with really high-tuned guitars. Not really high-tuned but it sounded like that. This time it’s more, ah…
ET: …in your face?
N: Yeah! I think so too. For me, Zos Kia Cultus is much more METAL! Thelema was not as metal as this one, so that’s probably the biggest difference. Also, Thelema was very fast in some parts but Zos Kia is faster. Thelema also had these really slow parts, but this time we have even slower parts, heavier parts. So in all directions we go, like, further and further.

ET: Looking at the cover-artwork, some of the song-titles and also some elements in the music, it seems like you have been influenced by Egyptian mythology?
N: Not really. The Egyptian "details" allready appeared on the Satanica-album. The names, the words, some descriptions, it’s been there for a while you know? Actually I would say that we are inspired by Aleister Crowley, who was inspired by ancient Egypt. We’re not like say, Nile, who are totally devoted to Egypt. We just pick up some elements from different mythologies, religions and philisopy and just mix it up into our own thing. So there’s definetly a difference.
ET: Is there a sort of a "thin,red line" when it comes to the lyrics?
N: In a way yes. But it’s so complex man, I hardly can speak about the lyrics in a detailed way. The music and the lyrics sort of merge, so to speak about them separately is really difficult. You really have to listen and try to understand for yourself, to feel it.

ET: The title, Zos Kia Cultus – Here And Beyond, what exactly does that mean?
N: Zos Kia is like Yin and Yang. Like two opposite energies which is a part of one thing at the same time. So it’s like black and white, here and beyond, above and below, you know? Zos is something material, like this table here. You are Zos, I am Zos. Kia on the other hand, is something that you can only explore mentally. You can’t really feel it or touch it. It’s not anything carnal, nor is it material. It’s spritual. Everything in our life is Zos Kia. So it’s like striving for perfection, you know? It’s a very symbolic meaning…

ET: Behemoth probably played the best concert on the whole Inferno-festival earlier this year.
N: Yeah, I’ve heard such opinions and I feel flattered about it of course. But we always try to go onstage and do our best, you know? There’s no competition when it comes to this. There are bands like Krisiun,Nile and Morbid Angel which are far better than us, so I don’t really try to compete. Dimmu Borgir is a really great band and I really like them. It was an honor for us to play with them, not only on that festival but also on other festivals. But to be honest I was really surprised from the feedback from the norwegian crowd, they were very enthusiastic. It was a really successful show.

ET: Poland seems to be the leading country these days when it comes to producing quality extreme-metal. You seem to have a very strong underground with bands such as Vader, Decapitated, Hate, Devilyn, Immemorial, Esqarial and of course Behemoth. Why do you think that Poland stands so strong in this scene?
N: I don’t know! (laughs) There’s just a lot of talented guys who knows how to handle the instruments. They have such a love and passion for music, especially deathmetal. More and more bands are getting a name, having contracts signed and selling lots of records. So Poland is more than fucking Adam Malysz (famous ski-jumper), you know?

ET: Here in Norway the media rarely mentions the metal-scene with a word. It’s only when bands such as Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir are releasing albums that it gets mentioned. How is this situation in Poland? Does the media care or are you being ignored?
N: It has changed over the years. Surprisingly enough we’ve done some interviews with the biggest tv-stations in Poland for this record, and that’s cool. Something is happening, and if somebody wants to interview me that’s just great, you know? They’re spreading the word.

ET: What music does the members of Behemoth listen to?
N: All kinds. Something that really impressed me lately is Songs For The Deaf by Queens Of The Stoneage. That’s probably the album of the year! The latest Danzig kicks ass, I’m a huge Danzig-fan by the way. The latest Black Label Society is excellent. The latest The Cult is just marvellous. The latest Nile is just…splendid! Hate Eternal’s great. I like cheesy stuff like Manowar…I also heard the last Shakira-single on the radio…and I fucking love that girl, man! Her voice…aah! For some people that is not understandable, but for me there’s true feeling in that music. She’s without a doubt the best artist in the whole pop-bullshit thing. There’s always something good in each musicstyle, you know? Ok, maybe except for reggae, which sucks big time, and country…which also sucks! But I like Johnny Cash,so…there’s always exceptions (laughs)

ET: What about side-projects?
N: I played in a band called The Wolverines, which played some kind of stoner-music, inspired by Danzig, but we split up. Inferno plays in two more bands; Witchmaster and Azarath. They will release an album soon. Havoc has his own band which has no name yet. Novy, our bass-player, is not our permanent member, but he has two bands of own; Dies Irae and Devilyn.