Behemoth vocalist and guitarist Adam “Nergal” Darski has a long, well-documented history of provocative behavior, from religious controversies to infamous public stunts like the YMCA hoax. So when the Polish blackened death metal institution announced their thirteenth studio album, titled The Shit Ov God, the reaction was immediate (Christians weren’t thrilled either, toilet paper enthusiasts were).

The Shit Ov God is an album name that landed with audiences about as gracefully as a turd falling from the sky. But according to Nergal, the reaction of goofing on the album name misses the point entirely. In a recent interview with Heavy, Nergal pushed back against criticism of the album title, insisting it carries far more meaning than people assume at first glance.

“Some people get it, some people didn’t get that. When I gave our latest record that title, they were, like, ‘Uh, Nergal, you can do better than this.’ No, I can’t do better. This is the best I can give you,” he said.

Nergal emphasized that The Shit Ov God is not a cheap shock tactic or “primitive slogan,” but a concept that demands effort from listeners: “Just get the record, read the lyrics. It’s not a stupid title. And it makes sense. You just need to make an effort as a fan to digest that, to process that and eventually understand that.”

He continued, noting that the album itself is just as challenging as its name: “It’s not some Satanic chitchats. There’s never been. It’s a very challenging, very demanding album… and it’s more philosophical than you think it is.”

To be fair, The Shit Ov God may indeed carry deeper meaning — but when an album title sounds absurd on its face, it’s inevitable that many listeners will stop at the surface level and crack jokes rather than dig deeper. Nergal explained that the album title was a deliberate reset following Behemoth’s previous, more traditionally “serious” titles.

“With [The Shit Ov God] album title, I kind of zeroed myself… I stole Opvs Contra Natvram from Jung, I Loved You At Your Darkest from the Bible, and people were still bitching about it.”

He pointed out that attempting to outdo iconic titles like The Satanist, Evangelion, or The Apostasy is a losing battle: “If you analyze Behemoth‘s album titles — The Satanist, then I Loved You At Your Darkest — something completely different, the dynamics. It goes somewhere else. And then the Latin title that I stole from Jung, Opvs Contra Natvram.

“And then The Shit Ov God. It’s, like, you have four album titles that are completely different. And that’s what makes it cool, at least for me. Every one [of them] is different, and I’m not doing those to make you like them. I’m doing those to fucking confuse you. That is my main goal — to confuse the fuck out of people. And I succeeded.”