Interviewed by Lady Leviah & answered by Xaphan Briefly describe for us the original line up and the current 2003 line up? Can you tell us the story of how you met each other? Kult ov Azazel was formed in the spring equinox of 1999 under the infernal name Azazel and 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 kicked out and Hellspawn took over drum duties and with this lineup we recorded and released the material on the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split CD. In the spring of 2000 we kicked out Hellspawn, decided to change the band name to Kult ov Azazel and soon after signed a 4 album deal with Arctic Music. In March 2001 we released our first full length “Triumph of Fire” with Vetis as a session drummer. We have also participated in a 4 way split with Obitus, Humanicide and Thylord and various compilations. Now 2003 sees us release “Oculus Infernum” and is the first time we have recorded with a full permanent lineup. The lineup now is Xul (vocals/bass), Xaphan (vocals/guitar), Nocturath (guitar) and The Hammer (drums). The way Xul and I meet was back in ’98 I had been doing shit with a drum machine and wasn't getting anywhere. I knew I had to find others that were interested in the same vision. It just so happened that a few months later I met Xul, we got to talking and it was evident we both shared that same vision. A few weeks later this band was born. Later down the line we met Nocturath and have for many releases had him doing the artwork/layouts for our releases before he joined the band. The way we found The Hammer was while I was on tour with Hateplow over in Europe. He was the tour manager and he was very interested in the band from the first time he heard the CD. Once we got back from tour he came down, met the others and was in the band from that point on. If any who were your influences? What is currently in your player? List and number them 1-10 rate them using your own rating scale... I like to use the word inspirations rather than influences. The bands that have impacted me over the past 2 decades have been Possessed "Seven Churches", Destruction "Infernal Overkill", Sodom "In the Sign of Evil", Bathory "The Return of Darkness and Evil", Beherit "The Oath of the Black Mark", Venom "Welcome to Hell" and "Black Metal", Hobbs "Angel of Death", Darkthrone "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" and "Under a Funeral Moon", Mayhem "Deathcrush' and "de Mysteriis dom Sathanas", Mercyful Fate "Melissa" and "Don't Break the Oath", Onslaught "Power from Hell", Celtic Frost "Morbid Tales" and "To Mega Therion", Hellhammer "Satanic Rites" and "Apocalyptic Raids", Acheron "Rites of the Black Mass", Exodus "Bonded by Blood", Slayer "Show No Mercy" and "Reign in Blood", Gorgoroth "Antichrist" and "Pentagram", Impaled Nazarene "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz", Havohej "Dethrone the Son of God", and Blasphemy "Gods of War". Currently in my player is Nargaroth “Rasluka Part II”, Krieg “Black House” advance, Empaligon “Black Dominated Annihilation”, Vomitor “Bleeding the Priest”, Slayer “Live Undead”, Darkthrone “Hate Them” and Impiety “Skullfucking Armageddon”. That’s what I have listened to this week. I rate them all 10 out of 10 because I don’t listen to inferior bands. What Genre would you say you belong more closely to please describe for us what elements of that genre belong to your personal style? We play black metal. No sissy keyboard opera bullshit, but real satanic, barbaric, vicious black metal and that’s all that needs to be said. Who came up with the band name? What was the reason behind it? Why did you guys decide to form the band? I came up with the band name. The meaning behind “Azazel” has many. In Enoch I, Azazel is one of the chiefs of the 200 fallen angels. In 'The Zohar' the rider on the serpent is symbolized by "the evil Azael." In this he is said to be chief of the order of bene elim otherwise known as "men-spirits". In 'The Apocalypse of Abraham' he is "lord of hell, seducer of mankind," and when revealed in true form, he is a demon with 7 serpent heads, 14 faces, and 12 wings. Jewish legend speaks of him as the angel who refused to bow down before Adam when the 1st human was presented to God to the assembled hierarchies in Heaven. For such a refusal, Azazel was thenceforth dubbed "the accursed Satan." According to the legend in Islamic lore, when God commanded the angels to worship Adam, Azazel refused, contending "Why should a son of fire fall down before a son of clay?" Whereupon God cast Azazel out of Heaven and changed his name to Eblis. In Paradise Lost I, Milton describes Azazel as a "cherub tall" but also as a fallen angel and Satan's standard bearer. It is also said in legend that Azazel was the first star which fell and has been called "that fallen and yet mighty angel." In demonology Azazel is the god/demon of war. So as you can see Azazel throughout history/religions has been linked to war, rebellion, defiance, non-conformity, hate, destruction, and a defiler of humanity. As for why we changed the name, the whole reason was because we wanted to distance ourselves from other bands that have or are using 'Azazel' as a band moniker. When we made the name change we decided to use the Germanic spelling of cult because both Xul and I have ties to Germany through our ancestry and decided to use the 'ov' as opposed to 'of' because this represents the occult influences we bring into the music. At the time when we changed the name it was original and no one had used these '"cryptic" spellings in band names but now it seems that many bands are using them a lot. Regardless I think what the name means and represents is pretty evident after the above explanations. The reason why we formed is to spread anti-monotheistic propaganda and blasphemies against the religions of lies. It's our vehicle in spreading satanic and nihilistic ideals through musical violence. If I was a huge fan and wanted to start a clone band. What equipment would I have to purchase and where could I get it at? If we told you this information we’d have to kill you besides one band is enough, we don’t need people copying us. If Dark Funeral and Cannibal Corpse were sent to hell to battle each other, who would win and explain why? This is a ridiculous question and one that doesn’t merit an answer. Do you guys plan on doing any major tours in the near future? On the subject of tours. Which previous show would you say was the most memorable and why? Which one was the most embarrassing and why? Over the past year or so we have been unable to play live as often as we’d like to due to schedule conflicts. Only Xul and I live in the same city, Nocturath lives in central Florida and Goss lives in Buffalo NY and travels 75% of the year as drum tech for other bands. We played the one and only show for this year a few weeks back in Philadelphia Pennsylvania with Bloodstorm and Decieverion and would like to get out and tour in support of the new album but at this time there are no definite plans. In the past we have played in NYC with Cadaver Inc., Goreaphobia and Black Mass and have played the “Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child” Festival in TX with Inquisition, Krieg, Absu, Thornspawn, Black Witchery, Noctuary, Ouroboros and Gnostic as well as many other gigs throughout Florida. The most memorable of the shows was the “SotNC” fest since it was an honor to share the stage with other great bands that we support and can’t say there’s been an embarrassing one. Do you have any plans to do any future recordings? Can you give us a brief taste on what goodies to expect in the future? At this point in time, we will start to focus on writing our next follow up to "Oculus Infernum" which will be released again through Arctic Music. We'll also during this process write the material for the split CD with Operation Winter Mist and Decieverion as well as material that will be on a future split 7" with Krieg. Both splits will be exclusive material for the releases only and will not be a studio effort as will be the next album. Instead we have decided to record the material for these splits ourselves, such as we did in the past with the "Order of the Fly" and our first wrath with Krieg. No advanced release information is available at this time on any of the recordings. Do any of you take place in any form of the occult? Can you describe what you believe in or is that private information? Yes but this is privileged information only discussed with people who I feel I can trust, nothing that is spoken about publicly. Do you have anything else you would like to add? We can be contacted through our hellsite, www.kultovazazel.com, or at Kult ov Azazel, PO Box, 23308, Fort Lauderdale FL 33307, USA. Ave mortalis Letum, Revelabitur atrocitas Infernum!!!!!!