Interviewed by Dravnirg

Hail Xaphan, what is new in Kult ov Azazel? On what you are working right now?

Right now we have just finished working on a new album that will be titled “The World, The Flesh & The Devil”.

I will not ask you for any biography or discography because Kult ov Azazel is a well-known band in the true underground and you have also a great site where this stuff can be founded. So I will continue to other questions... What are the reactions from the UG on your last work? Can you write us a few words about it? (concept, lyrics, style, length, when, where, style etc.)

Depends who you ask. Some love and some hate it. I personally think it’s by far the best material we have written. It was tracked at a studio named Rhythm Track studio which is now defunct and then mixed and mastered at Studio 13 where we had recorded the previous album “Triumph of Fire”. There were many obstacles that went into making it such Rhythm Tracks studio suddenly closing down days after we finished tracking all the instruments and vocals. So this delayed us until Jeremy Staska, who engineered and mixed "Triumph of Fire”, offered to help us out but then we had to work around the bands he'd already booked to record. So that fucked everything up and delayed things longer than we had anticipated. But in the end, it came out a killer release and one that I’m proud of. As for concept and overall style this album like past releases is deeply based in occult concepts lyrically and musically it envelops all that black metal is.

You have done quite many releases until today. Which of them is the most important for you and which of them do your like the most and why?

They all hold importance in one way or another. I don’t really have a personal favorite out of any of them. Each has songs that I enjoy and hate. I’d say my favorite is the newest and least favorite I don’t have one.

Far as I know you are also the member of Church of Satan. Many think that this group is only a bad joke, there were also a lot of campaigns against it. So why right this group? What were the main reasons to join?

The Church of Satan bashing is something that has been on going since the 1980's so that's nothing new. I am not here to defend the CoS since they are perfectly willing to do that themselves and need no help from me. My involvement with them is not active as I became a member out of respect for LaVey and nothing more. The bottom line is that these people who do all the shit talking and bashing are way too focused on the wrong cause and need to understand it's not the Church of Satan that's the problem. The problem is religions that wish to force their beliefs upon the world. It's the Christians and the Muslims, the fundamentalist and religious zealots and this is something people need to wake up and understand.

Also what is this group doing nowadays? What are your activities there if I can ask?

No idea really. I haven’t had much contact since LaVey’s death yet I know they are still very active.

Is Satan only some symbol for you or do you really believe in its existention and the war between the good and the evil?

The actual belief in Satan is nothing more than religious brainwashing. To me Satan is a symbol and metaphor that means many different things. Satan represents undefiled wisdom, enlightenment, strength, power and free will through individuality.

Some months ago there were some big scandals around the christians in USA. It seems that this "religion" is filled with fucking gay-pedophiles who like to fuck young boys in their asses. Have you something to say to this? What is your opinion about this topic and can you tell us more about this / what really happened there?

I don’t understand why people find this so surprising when in fact it has been going on in the Catholic Church for centuries, not only in this country mind you! It all goes back to why religion is such hypocrisy. Preach one thing to dumb down the masses yet turn around and engage in the forbidden acts preached about. What happened here in the Sates is something I really didn’t follow or keep up with while it was in the news. I could care less about hearing details of shit as such. I just know it shed some very bad light and press on the Catholic Church and only proved to uncover the hypocrisy and homosexual practices that have been perpetrated in the name of their religion since its rise to power.

And what about extremes, f.e. what happened in Germany when one fucking homosexual cannibal have eat the balls of the other one queer while he was in ecstasy. Where are the borders of "do what you will”? Do you also tolerate such subhuman acts like this?

I did not hear of anything about this but I guess the thing it comes down to is what ever floats your boat. I could really care less about what some German is doing to another German. Dahmer was the same way and far worse from what you have explained to me about this German guy. Anyhow, I think many “labels” of the human race deserve to die be it whites, blacks, yellows, tans, homos, heretos, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and the list is endless, I could go on for days. The underline point here is 99.9% of humanity is a waste of space and fresh air be it here, Germany or any other place on earth.

( I personally think that there is no real evil and good, there are just normal things in nature and unnatural and unfortunately due to influence of christian / jewish / muslim religions many normal things were labeled as "evil" while many unnatural things have become "normal" today. In real life it means that murder is normal for me in some way, war is sure thing in nature but f.e. gays, pedophiles and such subhumans are totally unnatural and thus must be ripped out of the Earth’s face together with the main part of this rotting humankind )

Also what about the life in USA. Are you satisfied? What do you like and dislike on this country? What about the war in Iraqi do you support this?

I enjoy my life in the Untied States. I’m able to say what I want, dress the way I want, express myself in any form that I want. So yes I’m satisfied living in the United States. As far as dislikes I would be sitting here for hours typing so let’s just say there’s a lot but on the other hand I enjoy it much more than I dislike it. The war in Iraq has nothing to do with me that is between the Bush administration and the people/government of Iraq. I could care less what happens to Iraq, I live in Florida and what goes on in my own state is all that concerns me. I don’t give two flying fucks about what happens halfway around the world from me.

There are many great BM bands coming from USA lately. Which of them do you take as the most serious and what are your terms with other BM bands in the states? It is there a lot of in-fighting and gossip-spreading? What are the biggest problems on your scene in your opinion?

I don’t know if there’s lots of in fighting and gossip spreading because we as a band tend to stay to ourselves. I am however remained in contact with some bands that we formed alliances with back when we first started. The bands here I take as the most serious are Krieg, Inquisition, Thornspawn, Averse Sefira, Xasthur and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few.

How do you spend your time on this planet besides creating KOA music? Are you interested in Black Magic, occultism and such things. If yes, please tell us more about that...

I don’t have a lot of free time outside of the band. I spend 100% of my time on this band. I do all the interviews, answer all mail, do all the mailings, write the majority of the music, design and maintain our website, book the shows and pretty much everything else that comes along with being in a band. The time I get outside of doing band related stuff I sleep or use that time to consume alcohol and other substances. My interests outside of the bad are all things related to the black magic, the occult or satanic philosophy be it through music, movie or art. I’m also big into collecting horror DVD’s.

Back to music, where do you take inspiration for music and lyrics, who writes the lyrics and what are they about?

In the past Xul wrote most of the lyrics up until “Triumph of Fire” with the exception being “Destruction to the Throne of God” in which I wrote the lyrics for. On the new album “Oculus Infernum” the majority of the lyrics were written by me with Xul contributing lyrics for a few songs and Nocturath for a song. Our lyrics are based in satanic and nihilistic philosophies and ideologies. Lyrics are always the last part to song since our lyrics are always evoked by our music.

Have already prepared some new material? When it will be released and what it is all about? (Same as the question about the new album... tell us what you can about it...)

As I stated earlier “Oculus Infernum” was tracked at Rhythm Track Studios, then mixed/mastered at Studio 13 and was produced by us. It definitely was no easy affair. Many problems arose while trying to complete it. First thing was after the tracking was done, Rhythm Tracks studios folded and this left us in a awkward situation for about 2 months until we could find another studio to finish it up at. Jeremy Staska, the guy that engineered and mixed "Triumph of Fire" offered to help us out but the problem with that was we had to work around the bands he'd already booked to record. So it took more time to complete than we had originally envisioned but in the end I think it came out as one of our best releases yet. We have written new material and it will be on the next album titled “The World, The Flesh & The Devil”. An advance track of 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. There’s a new release that just came out from the Malaysian label Inquisition Musik titled “Black Mass Consecration” which is a complied recording of everything we had done up until 2001. Also we have just finished negotiations with a French label that will be releasing “Oculus Infernum” on LP here shortly.

KOA also deals with misanthropy... When it first started in you and why? What is your worst experience with humankind?

My worst experience with humankind is having to interact with them on a day to day basis. Since I was a child I have had disgust towards humans. I am not a people person and don’t care in having conversations or communications with people I don’t know. Doing interviews is different because most of them are done through email and I have no personal contact with anyone. I’ve always been one that likes to be by themselves, I’m a very independent person where as most humans are co-dependant and need others to make them feel better about themselves or boost their egos. I’m more content being left alone to do my own thing rather than surrounding myself with followers and rejects.

You play also live so what do you like and dislike on the BM gigs and what was the best for you and why?

So far the best gig we have done was the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child festival back in 2001. It was great to play an all black metal fest not to mention we shared the stage with the best of the best when it comes to black metal bands from the United States. And yes playing live has from the start of this band been something we enjoy to do although over the years with the drummer problems we have had it has made playing live less of an option. But Now that we have some management behind us and a full permanent lineup our focus on touring has resurfaced and we are currently trying to line up some European shows for this Fall, looking at around November if possible as well as some west coast dates for the United States. AS for dislikes about playing shows, can’t say I have any since every show is a nightmare yet a victory in itself.

What are your plans for the nearest future?

We will be co-headlining the Northern Lights festival this year in Toronto Canada and other than that like I mentioned earlier get the new album recorded, released and possibly get some tour dates booked for the end of the year.

Close as wish!

Those interested in the band can obtain additional information on releases, merchandise and recent news or contact us through our website at www.kultovazazel.com. Hail and thanks for the interview and for the exposure you are giving us through your zine.