Hails Xaphan, thanks for taking the time to do an interview.

To start with, give me a brief history of the band, and its members.

Hails! KULT OV AZAZEL was formed in the spring equinox of 1999 under the infernal name AZAZEL consisting of Xaphan (myself) on guitar/vocals, Xul on vocals/bass and Von on drums. Under this name and lineup we recorded and released “Order Of The Fly”. Soon after Von was booted out and Hellspawn took over drum duties and with this lineup we recorded and released the material on the split CD with KRIEG (USA). In the spring of 2000 we kicked out Hellspawn, decided to change the band name to KULT OV AZAZEL and signed a 4 album deal with Arctic Music. In March 2001 we released our first full length “Triumph Of Fire” with Vetis participating as a session drummer on that release. We have also participated in a 7” split with SATAN’S BLOOD (GER); a 4 way split with OBITUS (SWE), HUMANICIDE (USA) and THYLORD (FRA) and have been included on numerous compilations. In 2003 we released our second blasphemy for Arctic Music titled “Oculus Infernum” which was the first time we had recorded with a full permanent lineup which consists of myself (vocals/guitar), Xul (vocals/ bass), Nocturath (guitar/backing vocals) and The Hammer (drums).

What are your main influences?

POSSESSED, DESTRUCTION, SODOM, BATHORY, BEHERIT, VENOM, HOBBS, DARKTHRONE, (old) MAYHEM, MERCYFUL FATE, ONSLAUGHT, CELTIC FROST, HELLHAMMER, ACHERON, EXODUS (BbB), (old) SLAYER, (old) METALLICA, VOI VOD, MARDUK, GORGOROTH, IMPALED NAZARENE, HAVOHEJ, BLASPHEMY and a thousand others that I can’t think of right now. I have been into extreme Metal since the age of 12 and I am now 31 so there’s been many a band that has inspired me over the years.

Tell me about your latest release; “Oculus Infernum”. How do you feel it’s different than “Triumph Of Fire”, what did you do differently etc…?

On the new album we went about writing quite different than we did with “Triumph Of Fire”. In the past most songs were written by Xul, myself or together and then brought to rehearsal where as on the new album we all had a part in it. As far as my thoughts on it go I believe this album has completely exceeded our past effort, at least in my opinion. In ways we rushed things since it was either record at that point in time or wait another year or two until the time arose again. So going in to the studio the song structures were there but most of the songs themselves had no lyrics, no harmonies, nothing except for the shell of the song. So as we recorded the songs themselves came to life so to speak in front of us. It was definitely a method in which we never recorded before since in the past we've always been prepared when we've enter a studio to record. The vision/sound of what we set out to achieve was there but we didn’t know how it would come out in the end. Now that’s it’s all behind us we’re all quite satisfied with it and in the end that is all that matters .

You recently released a compilation CD called “Black Mass Consecration”. Tell me about what made you re-release these tracks, as well as why it has such a limited press.

We were contacted by this guy Ross from Malaysia who wanted to start up a label called Inquisition Musik. He wanted us to be the first band he released something by and we were honored to have been chosen. He mentioned it would be special and because of our contract with Arctic Music we couldn’t really put anything we’ve recorded with them on it. So basically we compiled a CD of everything we had recorded from 1998-2000, the ‘98 recording being a demo done with a drum machine that up until now has never been released in its entirety. As for it’s limited pressing, this is because it’s being done by a die hard maniac that has decided to take his own hard earned money (let’s not forget he lives in Malaysia) to release recordings of bands he supports. It’s not like he’s Nuclear Blast or Peaceville that has tons of money to release it in unlimited quantities. People fail to understand that a lot of these underground labels are run by people that support the music and use their own money to fund the releases. Think about it, if you have a minimal paying job (minimum wage) and decide you want to release a CD of a band it’s not an easy task. It’s like running a print zine use to be and still is, it takes money and sometimes people don’t have a whole lot of it and therefore release what they can afford to print up. Same reason all the KULT OV AZAZEL t-shirts have been of limited numbers, this is because Xul and I have paid for them out of our own pockets and can only afford to do so many, it’s not like we have some merchandising company doing it for us like many other bands.

What releases do you have planned for the future?

We have finished writing new material and it will be on the next album titled “The World, The Flesh & The Devil”. An advance track off it can be found on our website of the song “Compelled To Die”. It’s just a rehearsal track we did using a four track and Adobe Audition software. There are no vocals on it just a stripped down version of the song. We have no immediate information on when it will be recorded but we are shooting to have it recorded and released for early 2005. We’re also working on finishing the tracking of a new song that will be on a split 7” we’re doing with KRIEG. “Triumph Of Fire” was just re-issued through our label Arctic Music and we have just finished negotiations with a French label that will be releasing “Oculus Infernum” on LP here shortly.

What will KULT OV AZAZEL be doing live for the next little while?

We’ll be co-headlining the Northern Lights festival this year in Toronto Canada. Other than that not much is on the slate. We just recently acquired management and they are in the process of working out some dates for Europe and the US West Coast.

What have been some of your highlights in a live setting?

For me it was playing the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child Festival back in 2001. As many know KRIEG and this band have been close allies and it was an honor to finally have shared the stage with them not to mention all the other great hordes from the US such as ABSU, THORNSPAWN, INQUISITION, BLACK WITCHERY, NOCTUARY, GNOSTIC and others. I mean we have opened for much bigger “national/international” bands and played in front of far more people than we did for the fest but just to be a part of something that embraced the overall aura of Black Metal was special. It was blasphemy and debauchery from beginning to end and is by far the memorable show I have done to date.

What are your thoughts on the following?

USBM scene:

Hate the catch-phrase, has more negative connotations than it does positive yet we’re proud to be an American band that can hang with the best of those from other countries, if not crush them all together.

The Norwegian BM scene:

Is there still one? I mean I know that there are still bands from the old scene still going and such but has Norway even spawned any good recent Black Metal bands? If so I haven’t heard of any since the church burning days. But in general I can’t really comment on the scene there since I live in Florida which is well over a thousand miles away.

Black Metal as a ‘trend’

Fuck those that say this, it may be a trend for them but for others it’s an ideological way of life.

MP3s:

I personally have no problem with them. There are pros and cons with them but that’s usually the case with everything.

The growth of the Black Metal scene has seen a lot of its ideals diluted and altered. Who do you feel is currently staying true to the old ideals and principles of Black Metal?

My opinion on who I feel are the bands staying true to the ideals and principals of Black Metal is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is we are and will be one of the bands that will continue to do so. We’ll never turn our backs on the ideals that Black Metal originated from and will always represent this in our music and lyrics.

What were your favorite releases of 2003? Least favorite?

Favorite was the DARKTHRONE “Hate Them” and as far as least favorite can’t say I can recall one, I am good about not buying stuff I don’t like.

Thanks for the interview, feel free to add anything you’d like!

Those interested in merchandise, updates and other information pertaining to KULT OV AZAZEL can obtain these from our website at www.kultovazazel.com. We can also be contacted through postal mail at KULT OV AZAZEL, PO Box 23308, Fort Lauderdale Florida 33307, USA. All mail and emails will be answered. Other than that, I urge those that have not done so to check out our album “Oculus Infernum” and thanks to you and those at “The Metal Observer” for the support.

For the discography, please have a look in the band history!