BEHEMOTH frontman facing prison after onstage antics

Polish BEHEMOTH frontman Adam 'Nergal' Darski could be doing time after offending Catholics in his home country after dubbing the religion “the most murderous cult on the planet” before tearing up a Bible onstage in September of 2007. Nergal has now been formally charged with “insulting Roman Catholics” – a punishable crime in Poland – to which he is pleading not guilty.

The incident attracted the attention of the head of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects, Ryszard Nowak, who later sued the band for promoting Satanism. However, the case did not proceed because Polish law states that two formal complaints must be made before charges can be brought against a defendant. Nowak's complaint was filed in 2008, and since then an unspecified number of other complaints have also been made.

During the first hearing, Nergal stated that what he does on stage is 'art', and was not intended to offend anyone. No judgment was ruled from this hearing, but since numerous other complaints have been made, the matter will be brought before the courts. If he is found guilty, he could be looking at up to two years behind bars.