Adam Darski

Adam Darski (Nergal)
Darski at Empik, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Adam Michał Darski
Also known as	Nergal, Holocausto
Born	(1977-06-10) 10 June 1977 (age 34) Gdynia, Poland
Genres	Death metal, blackened death metal, black metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, manager
Instruments	Vocals, guitars, bass, synthesizer, drums, programming
Years active	1991–present
Associated acts	Behemoth, Mastiphal, Damnation, Hermh, Voodoo Gods
Website	www.behemoth.pl
Notable instruments
ESP Nergal Signature Model

Adam Michał Darski^[1] (born 10 June 1977 in Gdynia) also known by his stage name Nergal, is a Polish musician and television personality, best known for being the frontman for black/death metal band Behemoth.

Biography

Adam Nergal Darski and Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim, 2011

Darski was born in Gdynia, Poland, raised Catholic, and started playing guitar at age eight.^[2] He goes by the stage name Nergal (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. For a brief time he used the alias Holocausto,^[3] inspired by Beherit leader Nuclear Holocausto.^{[4][verification needed]} In late 1990s he was a vocalist and guitarist of the Danzig influenced band named Wolverine,^[5] which was showcasing Nergal's capability of clean singing. He is also known for his contributions with the following bands: Hermh, Nile, Damnation, Vader, Sweet Noise, Mastiphal, December's Fire, Mess Age, Corruption, Hangover, Ex Deo, and Hefeystos.

Nergal has completed six years of history, including one year of Latin at University of Gdańsk, and is qualified to be a museum curator.^[2]

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".^[6]

In March 2010, Nergal was held on trial in Poland 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 supported that freedom of speech should come before religion in Poland. He faced up to two years in prison due to the Bible-tearing,^[7] but Darski's charges were dropped 28 June 2010.^[8]

In 2011, he assumed the position of a judge on the Polish TV show The Voice of Poland.^[9]

Personal

From mid 2009 to early 2011, he was in a highly publicised relationship with Dorota Rabczewska, a Polish pop singer popularly known as Doda.^[10] On March 17, 2011, News.pl reported the couple had called off the engagement and broken up.^[11]

Leukemia

Maciej Maleńczuk and Adam "Nergal" Darski on the shooting set for the Behemoth video clip "Lucifer", 2011

On 8 August 2010, Nergal was rushed to the hematology ward of the Gdansk Medical University Hospital for treatment of a then-undisclosed illness. All Behemoth shows until November 2010, including a Russian and North American tour, were canceled.^[12] As of 24 August 2010, Darski was diagnosed with leukemia. The illness was thought to have advanced far enough to the point that chemotherapy would be ineffective against it, but such reports have since been proven false.^[13] His then-fiancée offered to donate her marrow, but it was not a close enough match to his type.^[14][15] On 8 November 2010, Ultimate-Guitar.com reported that he has found a genetic bone marrow match and would then undergo treatment to receive a bone marrow transplant.^[16]

Nergal was discharged from the Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) hospital in Gdansk on Monday, January 16, 2011, three weeks after undergoing bone marrow transplant surgery. “Adam feels good and is resting comfortably but cannot see any visitors as he can’t risk viral infections,” said his ex-fiancée, Doda.^[17] However, Nergal was readmitted to the hematology division of Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) in Gdansk after he developed an infection six weeks after he underwent the bone marrow transplant procedure. 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.^[18] 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".^[19]

Equipment

Discography

With Behemoth

• Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic) (1995)
• Grom (1996)
• Pandemonic Incantations (1998)
• Satanica (1999)
• Thelema.6 (2000)
• Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond) (2002)
• Demigod (2004)
• The Apostasy (2007)
• Evangelion (2009)

With Voodoo Gods

• Shrunken Head^[31] (2012)

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)^[32]
• Mess Age – Self-Convicted (2002; vocals)^[33]
• Corruption – Orgasmusica (2003; vocals)^[34]
• Sweet Noise – Revolta (2003; vocals)^[35]
• Frontside – Teoria Konspiracji (2008; vocals)^[36]
• The Amenta – n0n (2008; vocals)^[37]
• Ex Deo – Romulus (2009; vocals)^[38]
• Vulgar – The Professional Blasphemy (2010; vocals)^[39]
• Czesław Śpiewa – Pop (2010; vocals)^[40]
• Root – Heritage of Satan (2011; vocals)^[41]
• Grzegorz Skawiński – Me & My Guitar (2012)^[42]

Filmography

• Historia polskiego rocka (2008, documentary, directed: Leszek Gnoiński, Wojciech Słota)^[43]

References

External links

• Media related to Adam Darski at Wikimedia Commons