Nergal Is in Court Defending Behemoth Against Polish Blasphemy Charge (Again)

It looks like the government of Poland has again summoned Behemoth bandleader Adam "Nergal" Darski to defend one of the Polish death metal band's merchandise designs. That's because the act's "The Republic of the Unfaithful" logo takes its inspiration from the white eagle on Poland's coat of arms.

The issue first came to light in 2017 when a prosecutor's office in the Polish city of Gdansk called Nergal in for questioning regarding the Behemoth emblem. On Wednesday (July 8), the musician shared two new photos of himself in court, along with a message indicating the reactivated nature of the case.

"So some idiots still claim that 'The Republic of the unfaithful' [Behemoth] logo is a sacrilege of Polish national emblem," Nergal explains. "It is NOT in fact. But they insisted to reopen the case to investigate further."

He continues, "They think that copyrights of white eagle is solely owned by Poland and every other interpretation of the bird is a blasphemy. My antagonists seem to be sooo desperate to nail their favorite scapegoat to their rotten moral cross that they missed all the common sense in the narrative."

But didn't Nergal celebrate a victory in the original case? He did, indeed. Still, it would appear that skirting the issue of the supposed blasphemy in the Polish courts isn't just a one-and-done deal.

While Behemoth no longer sell the shirt in question, its design featured a demonic eagle flanked by two snakes behind an inverted cross on a red escutcheon. But did it represent an insult to the official Polish symbol?

Nergal didn't directly address that question in his latest message. However, he did opine on the unproductive nature of re-litigating the matter. He also pointed to an allegation of unpatriotism leveled at Behemoth.

"They accuse us of anti-Polish act," Nergal adds. "If u ask me, spending hours in the court, engaging all the people around (journalists, judges, lawyers etc etc) spending xxx tax money on another absurd case is DEEPLY anti-Polish. We all could have saved this time to do something creative, couldn't we?"

It's not the first time Nergal's been in legal hot water. In 2010, the musician was tried in Poland for blasphemy after ripping up a Bible on stage and calling it a "book of lies." Eventually, the courts dropped those charges.

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