Interviewed by Herr Chemosh & answered by Xaphan Hail KoA, thanks for taking out the time to do this interview, firstly could you introduce your band to those who are unfamiliar with you? The band has always consisted of Xul on bass/vocals and myself on guitar and occasional vocals. The name Kult ov Azazel, how did it come about? We formed under the name Azazel. After about a year of having that name we changed it to Kult ov Azazel. There have been many past and present bands using the Azazel name and we decided to add to ours so we'd never be confused with any other band. The reason we choose the name Azazel was because it's meaning and associations have always symbolized rebellion, non-conformity, destruction and corruption. Therefore we are the embodiment of these actions through our music. You were recently on a 4 way split CD entitled "Gather Against Humanity" where all bands had song titles such as "Worthless Being", "Unfertilize Mankind" and "The Extinction" which were signifying hatred for humanity. The titles of the KoA tracks don’t hint towards a hatred of humanity as much as the other bands. Do KoA have as much an Anti human topic, or is this more of a Satanic anti christian act? We are both nihilistic and satanic. Our songs reflect both of these ideologies in our music and lyrics. Granted we didn't have a song title on the split that point blank had "hate" or "hatred" or that simply implied these feelings. Besides that what you got on the 4 way split was 2 songs from our "Order of the Fly" mCD and 2 songs from the split that was done with Krieg. When we were asked to be a part of this we did not have any new material written or available. But I can say that although the lyrics and song titles may not openly portray these feelings the music most certainly does. Hatred for humanity as well as christianity or any religion for that matter has always been a driving force behind this band. The official page used to have a quote along the lines of "the symbol of the baphomet is a registered trade mark of the Church of Satan" does Kult ov Azazel have any ties with the CoS and how do the views of KoA related to the views of the CoS? I have ties to the CoS but Xul does not. The reason that statement was on our site is because I give credit where credit is due. I used the baphomet off the cover of LaVey's "The Satanic Mass" as a background on our website. That is why that statement appeared. Do any of the members of Kult ov Azazel have any side projects? If so would you introduce us to these projects? I'm the only one that has anything to do with a band outside of Kult ov Azazel. I was added to the Hateplow lineup back in January. For people that have no idea of who Hateplow is it consists of Phil, Rob and Dave from Malevolent Creation, Kyle from the now defunct Florida death metal band Sickness and now myself on bass. They have 2 albums out and a new one in the works which will be the first one that I will appear on bass. The music is a cross between death metal and grindcore. If you could collaborate with any of the following, who would you chose and why? Euronymous, Vikerness, Fenriz or Dead. All of the above because I appreciate what each of these individuals contributed to the Black Metal scene. What would you do if you were in the Norwegian scene during the early 90's? I would have been doing the same thing I am doing now with this band, spreading antichristian, misanthropic ideals through music. I don’t know if I would be involved in anything illegal because I can do far more better things outside of jail than I can do being incarcerated. But I support and advocate any form of action that people take against established religion whether it is through music, cinema or individual execution. How do you feel about all the problems in the black metal scene of Malaysia? I think that it's funny but at the same time very absurd. The funny thing is the fact that the government is searching out anybody that has tattoos of what they deem to be of "satanic origins or references" or that wears leather, spikes or all black and putting them on some kind of rehabilitation program. No matter how absurd this may sound you can't deny that these religious fucks thinking rehabilitation and drugs will get rid of black metal in Malaysia isn't worth laughing at. This is one of the prime reasons religionist need to be hunted down and exterminated no matter what country you hail from! In your opinion what is the strongest black metal scene in the world? And could you name some of your favourite bands form this area? There are quite a few strong scenes in the world. I mean the US has quite a few killer bands, as does Germany, France, Sweden, among others. So to narrow it down to one single region would be impossible. What I will tell you that some of these bands I find quite killer are Nargaroth, Belphegor, Ungod, Ibex Throne, Obitus, Temple of Baal, Antaeus, Thornspawn, Thylord, Bloodstorm, Krieg, Averse Sefira, Open Grave/Humanicide, Malleus Maleficarum, Burning Winds, Clandestine Blaze, Judas Iscariot, Maniac Butcher, Abazagorath, Cryptic Winds, Black Witchery, Conqueror, Inquisition, Grand Belial’s Key, Berzano, Cult of Daath, Infestum and Belenos. Which Bands do you respect and/or are the main influences behind Kult ov Azazel's music and message? The bands that are the main influence behind Kult ov Azazel would be Destruction, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Venom, Possessed, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Darkthrone, Exodus, Sodom, Acheron, Havohej as well as many others. These bands have had some influence over us musically but we do not go out of our way to copy these bands. As far as our message goes that is not influenced by any band. Our message and what we express through the lyrics comes from our feelings and views that we have towards the herd of stupidity, the sheep of humanity, the followers of righteousness. What are the plans for the future of Kult ov Azazel? We will go into the studio to record 4 new tracks in December. These tracks with about 8 live tracks will appear on a mini/live CD that will be out around January. We'll then go back into the studio in the spring of 2002 and record the next full length. This should be out sometime that summer. Thanks for taking the time out for this interview, any Last words for the readers and would you like to leave any contact info or homepage urls? Hails for the support and for the interview. We still have copies of the new CD “Triumph of Fire” available as well as the 4 way split from Christcrusher Productions. Horns up to all our allies and minions worldwide!