Interviewed by Count NecrobutcheR & answered by Xul Who are Kult ov Azazel, and what does it mean? Kult ov Azazel consists of myself, Xul on vocals/bass and Xaphan on Guitars. We just found a new drummer Goss "The Hammer" to fill in the session drummers we've been going through. Originally we were known as just Azazel, which is a demon that taught men how to build weapons for war. He also refused to bow down to Adam and was cast down to hell in other religious myths. So Azazel represents destruction, war, non-conformity, rebellion, corruption and so on. The name came about because our music represents the same thing. We are spreading the same ideas through our music. We changed our name to Kult ov Azazel to distance ourselves from some other bands that we had heard of with the same moniker and to avoid any confusion as to whom we are. We added Kult ov to the name because we thought it still would identify us as the same band and it was more appropriate with a new full length coming out with our new material. What does it mean for you to play this kind of Black Metal and live in Florida? I don't think the fact that we live in Florida has anything to do with our music. How the rest of the world perceives Floridians as or their way of life does not influence us. Our modern day lives are just like yours in Europe or any other normal civilizations. Black metal is inside your soul. If you have it you have it, if you don't.... Kill yourself. What do you think about religions? Religions are man made stories. I don't follow any religions. I take some philosophies from different places and form my own way of thinking. What's the ideology of the band? We stand for the demise of this plague-ridden world. We are here to add to the propaganda to start the war to destroy christianity. Kult ov Azazel is influenced by hatred, destruction, astral projections, war, and the list goes on. We hate this world and would like to see it burn. Tell us briefly the history of Kult ov Azazel. Kult ov Azazel was formed in April of 1999. Xaphan and I had met up while we were both doing projects that only included ourselves. Upon more and more talking we had the same vision in mind and decided to scrap the two projects and collaborate together. From there we found a drummer and wrote two new songs with some material I had already written and recorded "Order of the Fly". After that was released and we started getting our name out we did a split CD with Krieg on Genocide Music. While we were waiting for this to be released we were approached by Arctic Music to do a full length, and thus we have "Triumph of Fire". Can you introduce for us "Triumph of Fire" through a little brief of the songs present? Triumph of Fire has 'Aether Cries' and 'Crown of Fire' from our "Order of the Fly" demo mCD redone. It also features 'Destruction to the Throne of God' and 'In the Plagued Realm' from the split CD also redone. The rest of the songs were written specifically for this release. We decided to include these old songs on the full length for our existing fans to hear them redone with a better sound and with more hatred. In which way you would describe "Triumph of Fire"? The only way to describe the new album would be to imagine a nuclear bomb destroying everything in its path while "SATAN" is being screamed in the background of all the people's mind until their flesh is torn off to resemble the bloody mess from the whore Mary's cunt. How much have you worked to obtain this "Triumph of Fire"? We have been around as Kult ov Azazel for two years. I was involved with another band in the early 90's for about 6 years. It was a mixture of Black/Death metal. Triumph of Fire is the best piece of work that I have put together and the next album should be even better. As musicians we have come along way with a tighter sound that was captured on the new album. How came the idea for "Le Messe Noir"? That song was originally not going to have a title and it was going to be the last track on the CD. When we finished the recording process we thought it came out well so we decided to use it as the opening track. The name came from where the lyrics came from - passages from Le Messe Noir. Xaphan had put the lyrics together for that one. Have you ever been in contact with Anton LaVey or you are only inspired by his works? I have never been in contact with Anton LaVey. I wouldn't even say I'm inspired by his works. I do agree with some of his thoughts and think he has had a great impact on the Satanic community as a whole. In another sense though he basically made Satanism commercial. His ideas that he took credit for are not really all original, it seems to be collaboration between Nietzsche, Rand and others. Can you tell us something about the lyrics? The lyrics were written on a song by song basis. The album is not a concept album as a whole but it all aims towards a common goal. I think the lyrics speak for themselves. They included all the topics discussed earlier in the interview. Why have you chosen for this kind feeling in the vocals? Don't you think that they are too much cold and deepless? The vocals are that way because that is my style - uncompromising and raw. This may throw some people away from us because they can't take the relentlessness but fuck them. If you listen to black metal and you have a problem with the vocals that I spew then FUCK OFF! I have to disagree with you on the deepless comment. Those kinds of vocals aren't just natural scratchy voice whispers your average goth can produce. It all comes from the dark souls within to produce true emotion for what you are trying to accomplish. How do you like to imagine the future of Kult ov Azazel? Right now we are planning to do some touring in support of the album and a live album should be coming out soon so that we can re-release "Triumph of Fire" in the states. Also we are starting to write new material for an album to be released next year. What do you think of death/black metal in U.S.A. today? What do you think of the actual scene? Right now the USA is producing great bands and should continue to do so. For awhile most of the music coming from Europe was very disappointing compared to what it used to be. The scene right has always had its ups and downs and currently I think it's strong here in the USA and will grow. The USA was always pretty weak compared to Europe but I think its getting better. Only time will tell... Which are your musical influences? Musically I'm influenced by many different bands. In my play list right now I have Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Gorgoroth, Dissection, Sodom, Opeth, (old) Mayhem, and the list could go on and on. How do you judge the strong change that has suffered a lot of Black Metal bands in the past years? This is probably more on a band to band basis but in the whole a lot of bands that were once greats are now embarrassing. It's tragic but you can't change what they have done. I think its better to remember them for what they used to be and I don't pay attention to what they are doing now. Some of it is blamed on "selling out" or "maturing". Both of these philosophies are apparent and probably a combination of both. To really delve on this you would have to get inside the minds of who is in question. If I say Internet, MP3, etc. what do you think? The Internet has made it very easy for bands to get noticed and to get in the scene. The Internet is very convenient for new people in the scene now days. It is basically a devil's advocate. It can be beneficial for a band starting out but for bands that have albums out, people are downloading their albums for free and ruining the scene. Places like EBAY are also destroying the market with overpriced paraphernalia and rip-offs. You can't change either aspect so I would like to look at it as a good thing for the scene. Do you want to say something other to your fans or ours reader? Thanks for the interest in the band; and keep supporting the Underground. If you haven't already picked up "Triumph of Fire", then DIE. Hail Victory!