Interviewed by Scott & answered by Xul Who's in your band and what do you each play? Kult ov Azazel consists of myself on vocals and bass, Xaphan on guitar and some occasional vocals, and we currently have replaced our session drummer with Goss. Xaphan and myself write all material. Concerning the band the only core members are Xaphan and I. How long has the band been together? We started the band officially April of 1999. When we formed the band, I had some material recorded that I was going to be released as a solo project under the moniker of “Erebus.” We used this material and re-recorded those four songs with two new ones which later became our demo CD “Order of the Fly.” Xaphan at the time was also putting together a solo project but hadn't put anything to tape. He helped me putting the songs onto CD and mastering of the demo I had done and liked the material. We got to talking, had a lot of similar ideas, and decided to collaborate. And here we are today…. What would you say your musical influences are? Musically I have many influences. My taste is constantly changing. Towards Black Metal I would have to say Bathory, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Early Mayhem, Burzum, Dissection, Early Ulver, Marduk, Beherit, Opeth, Gorgoroth. I listen to a lot of the bands coming out today and I would say more than half are crap and very overrated. It seems that the underground is getting a new wave of shit. But I'm not only influenced by Black Metal, I listen to death metal and tons of other bands in other genres. Have any of the other band members been in any other bands? I was in a band before Kult ov Azazel that had enormous potential but never officially released anything called Devoured By Darkness. This band was formed in the early 90’s. Xaphan is currently playing bass in Hateplow, which is a side project of members of Malevolent Creation. Where do you reside? I live in South Florida, near Ft. Lauderdale. We rehearse and play most of our shows in Ft. Lauderdale. I don't think I can elaborate on that any more; so fuck off…. Where did your band's name come from? The band name was originally Azazel. Azazel in history has many different meanings all of which are relevant. 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." Here he is said to be chief of the order of bene elim otherwise known as ischim or lower angels ("men-spirits"). In The Apocalypse of Abraham he is "lord of hell, seducer of mankind," and here his aspect, when revealed in its true form, shows him to be a demon with 7 serpent heads, 14 faces, and 12 wings. Jewish legend speaks of Azazel as the angel who refused to bow down before Adam (in the koran the angel is Eblis or Iblis) 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. Bamberger in Fallen Angels inclines to the notion that the first star which fell was Azazel. Irenaeus calls Azazel "that fallen and yet mighty angel." and in demonology Azazel is the god/demon of war. When we put together the split CD with Krieg we were also approached with a contract with Arctic Music; so to distance ourselves from other bands using the same name we decided to change the name to Kult ov Azazel. The name change has been a good choice. How many gigs have the band played? We've played many shows, I've lost count. We are planning some touring in Europe soon. Nothing is official but we will know soon. Check the website for details on shows. Our next official show will be at this years Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child which is a Black Metal Fest being held in Texas. All info can be found on www.kultovazazel.com. When you are gigging what are your thoughts before you start to play? Destruction, Plague, and Hate. Would you say that it is a good time to be into metal? Actually it’s good and bad. There are a lot of promising bands getting well deserved attention now, such as most of the USBM bands but we also have the mainstream crap that pretends to be metal. This can be answered either way, depending on my mood. Overall there is just way too much crap out. Its not like it used to be. Does it piss you off if your audience doesn't like your music? Not at all. If I can have a negative effect on people then I would say it's a mission accomplished. You can’t expect everyone to see things the same way. That's what keeps everything fresh. I don't play Black Metal for the crowd. I do this for myself. We don't make any money from any of this. Do you find the attitude some people have towards true metal annoying? It all depends on what they consider true metal. On a whole I have to say its not annoying because it's a passion for what they believe in. I can respect that. We are all mortals so it seems that most people are fooled by CD packaging…typical humans. How would you describe your music? Kult ov Azazel plays straight forward blasting Black Metal. We support war, destruction, misanthropy, and anti-christianity. Who writes your lyrics and where do you get the ideas from? Most of the lyrics are written by myself but Xaphan has contributed to some as well. The lyrics are mainly about human hatred, personal prophecies, astral projections, and future visions of the outcome of this judeo-christian world, mostly hatred. We are antichristian and have our own breed of Satanism. It is not at all based on any one else's views of Satanism – don't confuse yourself. What was the last CD you bought? The last CD's I bought are Nargaroth – Black Metal ist Krieg, and the new Absu – Tara. Both are amazing. Irrelevant questions time... What's the strangest thing you have ever eaten? Probably Alligator Tail. I had some a couple years ago. It’s available here in South Florida with all the alligators in the swamps. When was the last time you got so fucking drunk that you couldn't even remember your own name? I'd have to say a couple weeks ago. What is your favourite TV programme? Everything on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. What's your favourite joke? What's black, white, and red? A priest with an ax in his head. AND FINALLY... Have you got a favourite movie? Urotsukidoji: Hell on earth collection.