PHOTOS: BEHEMOTH REHEARSE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE NERGAL WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LEUKEMIA

All photos by Ivo Ledwozyw

We’re a little more than three months away from Behemoth playing their first shows since the mighty Nergal was diagnosed with leukemia last summer. Which, obviously, is fantastic fucking news. The band recently held their first rehearsal for those shows, and posted some photos of that rehearsal on their official webpage; now, normally, I find rehearsal photos to be pretty boring, but this is obviously not a normal situation. Just seeing Nergal up and about with a guitar in his hand seriously warms my heart.

There are more photos after the jump — but first, here’s a statement from Nergal himself regarding the rehearsal:

“Sooo, first rehearsals after the transplant are under our belts! I didn’t want to get overexcited at first, just wanted to see how things would go, but I have to tell you… the second rehearsal we fuckin’ nailed ‘Ov Fire And The Void,’ ‘Lucifer,’ ‘Conquer All’or ‘Antichristian Phenomenon’ flawlessly! One of us even asked: ‘Did we really take a year off from each other?’ Ha ha… it was good times in great company! But the biggest surprise were the songs we NEVER played live ever and planning to do on the upcoming ‘Phoenix Rising Tour.’ I won’t reveal any names yet, let it be a mystery til we hit the stage, all right?

“In other news, I started jamming out some NEW shit too… too early to give any further comments but it sounds VERY disturbing and eerie. Can’t fuckin wait to unleash those ideas to my friends…”

Aaaaaannndddd my mouth is watering.

Okay, here are the other pics from the rehearsal:

On the off-chance you still haven’t done so, you should definitely check out our own Anso DF’s interview with Nergal — his first after his diagnosis — in which he discusses, amongst other things, the band’s plans for these upcoming shows, their first American tour back, and their eventual new album.

-AR