Interviewed by Joe & answered by Xaphan 1st off what can we expect on the full-length album? With the full length you can expect 40 minutes of relentless US Black Metal. It is titled Triumph of Fire and will contain 7 new tracks, 2 tracks from Order of the Fly and 2 tracks from the split CD we did with Krieg. It is being recorded at Studio 13, which is the same place bands like Malevolent Creation, Hate Plow and Divine Empire recorded their last album. We are finishing up the tracking this week and all I can say is that this release will show the world that USBM is indeed a force to be reckoned with! What label will release it? Triumph of Fire will be released on Arctic Music. Will there be a tour to follow up the release? Yes, there will be touring involved after the release of the recording. At this point all I know is that we will mostly likely be touring with Malevolent Creation and a few other bands in March. We must first find a drummer since the one used on the recording was only a session drummer for us. Anyone reading this that wants to play raw and harsh blasting black metal get in touch! What ever happen to the MAYHEM tribute album that included you cover of "Chainsaw Gutsfuck Unfortunately it never was released. The only way to obtain our version of Chainsaw Gutsfuck is on the Of Evil and Hatred promo. Did you have any other song's you might want to cover? We have discussed doing songs by Venom, Destruction, Darkthrone and possibly Gorgoroth. If we ever get around to doing any of these they will most likely go onto compilations or as bonus tracks. Just for the records tell us what made the change from AZAZEL to KULT OV AZAZEL? We changed the name because we did not want to be confused with the dozen other bands using the same moniker (past or present)! Xaphan since I know you are a member of the Church of Satan I would like to know what Satanism means to you? Satanism means to me many things. It is the dark driving force of ones own self. Satanism is indulging in the "seven deadly sins" without out feeling guilt for you actions. It is a guilt free religion, if religion is the word you wish to call it. To me it's more a philosophy, a way of life. Satanism stands against the Church and the destruction of all ties to the Nazarene. Satan is the dark primitive force in man that compels him to achieve his will. The power of will, power through Satan! What do you see in the future of US black metal? As long as the bands on US soil continue to spew blasphemies in the true vein of Black Metal then the future will be all right. The scene over here has some of the sickest BM bands ever spawned and continues to inspire hatred more by the day. Do you see the US black metal scene ever ending up like Norway? What do you think of black metal politics & Nordic terrorism? I sure hope not! I'm going to say some bands & tell me what you think SLAYER Slayer. Metallica. What's the difference? They both have sold out in one way or another. We all know the road Metallica went down, but Slayer on the other hand choose a much different one. For a band that when asked how they felt about having influenced a lot of black/death metal bands to reply that all black/death metal is garbage is wrong. Fuck them! How anyone into extreme metal can say they still like Slayer is beyond me. Not only that they have consistently sucked more and more since Reign in Blood was released in '86. To sum it up when you or anyone else says Slayer I immediately think they need to make the name change to Gayer. MERCYFUL FATE Mercyful Fate fucking rules! Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are still 2 of my favorite albums of all time. Utter blasphemy and satanic thought were put into those lyrics. IRON MAIDEN Iron Maiden was such a great band back in the 80's. Number of the Beast was the first album I got by them and must have been like 12 years old or something. I used to crank my stereo listening to that album. Piece of Mind was another classic but after Power Slave they went down the tubes. JUDAS PRIEST Honestly I can say I never really got into Priest, I do now but as I was growing up I didn't. I liked songs like "Electric Eye" and "Breaking the Law" but that was about it, I never owned a Judas Priest album or anything. I had a friend though that was a huge Priest fan and I always told him Halford was a fag and I was correct. SPINAL TAP This is Spinal Tap! What a fucking great movie! ACCEPT I never could get into them because I thought Udo looked like and sounded like a homosexual midget. They had one good song that I can remember liking and that was "Fast as a Shark". Do you listen to any other metal (besides black) such as thrash, death, or power metal? Yeah but I mostly listen to black metal if I'm evening listening to anything at all. I grew up on thrash/speed metal and power metal so I do still listen to a lot of them still. I don't listen to death metal that much anymore but do still listen to a few bands that have held my attention for years or have just gained it. Well Xaphan thanx for your time! Leave any last blasphemies? Thanks for the interview Joe and for the continued support! Be on the look out for the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split to finally be released in December and Triumph of Fire to follow soon after in February. Visit the website at www.kultovazazel.com for all info on Kult ov Azazel or write to us at Kult ov Azazel, PO Box 23308, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33307. We are also looking for a drummer so if interested get in touch with us as well. The christian holocaust has begun...Hail Satan!