Interviewed by GmorK & answered by Xaphan Heil Xaphan! How are you? Did you go to church on Sunday like a nice little boy? Heil GmorK. Why would I go to a church and subject myself to herd stupidity? Fuck weak minded pathetic followers of the light. In others words, FUCK NO! First of all, give us a short introduction to Kult ov Azazel (past and present)… Weren't you formerly known as Azazel? Yes we originally formed as Azazel in the spring of 1999. At this time it was myself on guitar and vocals, Xul on bass and vocals and Beleth on drums. A few months later we replaced Beleth with Von on drums and recorded our first mCD "Order of the Fly" that we self released to only 200 copies (it was later repressed by Blood Fire Death Records to 50 copies with an added live track). Von left the band right before the mCD came out and we then added Mortis on drums, which didn't last very long either, something like 2 months before we kicked him out. At this point Hellspawn falls into the picture and with him we recorded our portion of the split with Kreig. In June of 2000 we ditched Hellspawn and changed the name to Kult ov Azazel. We did a few shows after the riddance of Hellspawn with a session drummer and in November went into the studio with him to record "Triumph of Fire" on which Xul handled all the vocals and only I contributed vocals to one track. Right now we are beginning to write new songs while we still search for a drummer. "Triumph of Fire", fuck, this album rules! Do you share this opinion? And don't be modest, this CD FUCKING KILLS! Did you get much feedback? We have received a lot of feedback and it's all been positive. I totally agree with you that this CD does fucking crush and I'm not afraid to say it! Some have even said a masterpiece or a blueprint for what American Black Metal is all about. I don't know if I would go as far as saying it's a masterpiece but the latter portion I can agree with. We have never been the band that tries to follow what others have done. We automatically set out to differ ourselves from others in this country playing the same form of music. Too many bands try to copy other bands and to me there's no originality in that. Besides black metal has become to "pretty" and "atmospheric" with its keyboards and female vocals. The bastardisation of this form of music to me has just become absurd. We wanted to bring back the true essence of black metal yet do it in our way, with our own touch. After listening back to the CD I can without a doubt say that we accomplished that! You're signed to Arctic. I had never heard of it before, so I suppose it's a quite new label. Satisfied? Can you tell me something about Arctic? Most labels fail on a good promotion, is that the same case with Arctic? Arctic Music is a label that was started by Phil Fasciana (Malevolent Creation) and the intention behind Arctic Music is too release the most extreme forms of metal possible. We are very satisfied and the label has been really good to us. So far the promotion for the new CD has been really good. Arctic Music also has a distribution, manufacturing and marketing deal going with Pavement Music so I would have to say that I doubt they will fail on promotion. Pavement has always been very good about promoting their releases and so far the same goes for Arctic Music as well. You've recorded a split with Krieg I read somewhere. With whom would you like to appear in the future on a split? What are the future plans actually? Yeah, the split with Krieg was recorded in February of 2000 and was just released in February of this year on Genocide Music. It contains 5 tracks from us and 6 tracks from Krieg. It has received quite good reviews as well. We are very honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with Imperial and the Kreig horde. In the future if we do another split I would like to see us do one with either Judas Iscariot or Havohej. As for right now, like I said earlier we are in the process of talking with a few drummers so we can plan a US Tour and possibly some European dates. In the meantime we will be working on new songs. You've been recently in Europe, joining Hate Plow as bassist(?). Is this temporary or are you a fulltime member of Hate Plow? Is Kult ov Azazel your main band? In what (bands/labels/distros/porn movies/something else) are other members involved? I did just return from the European Hate Plow tour and it is now official that I am a permanent member of Hate Plow but Kult ov Azazel is definitely my main band and will always be that way. Hate Plow will be a band that will occupy my free time. There are other driving forces behind Hate Plow so they are capable of writing stuff without my contributions, I'll just play the songs. I focus 100% of all my attention to Kult ov Azazel; this is my life, blood, and total dedication! Other than myself, no one contributes to anything else but Kult ov Azazel. I also work for Arctic Music doing web related stuff. I know you go nuts when you hear Venom. Is this the main influence of Kult ov Azazel? Venom is definitely one of my influences, as is Possessed, Destruction, Bathory, Onslaught, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Exodus (Bonded by Blood era), Kreator, along with bands like Darkthrone, (the true) Mayhem, Setherial, fuck the list is endless. I grew up on early trash/speed/black/death metal (mainly circa early 1980's) and I'd say most of my influences stem from that period in my life. Xul on the other hand grew up with the 90's explosion of death and black metal so he's greatly influenced by bands of that time. But there are a lot of other things that influence us other than just music, which is why we joined forces. Musical influences put aside, we just focus on creating extreme satanic art that displays our total hate for mankind. If you really want to know the main influence in Kult ov Azazel than your answer would be hatred. Unlike to Europe (except for the south) is the USA a quite conservative and christian country. Someone I know for years who went reguraly to the States told me that many young people still go to the church on Sundays and christianity is still very strong (outside the big cities of course). How come so much BM bands pop up the latest years in the States? If christianity is so vivid, how come so much christian born young lads start playing blasphemous music? What are the States finest bands? Christianity is pretty big in America yet I believe it to be on a decline. I don't know if people still go to church on Sundays or not because I do not hang around people of this religious belief. I also live in the city so I can not speak for people living in rural areas. When you have to deal with these religious people on a day to day basis you quickly see how hypocritical and moronic their belief system really is. Either way, chrsitianity is for weak individuals period! You ask why so many young people are starting to play black metal? I think this is because, unlike their generations before, these people have an extreme hate of chritian views and therefor express it through a musical form such as black metal. The States has for a while had quite few good bands such as Profanatica, Demoncy, and Grand Belial's Key. Right now the hordes that are a fist in the face of god would be Thornspawn, Krieg, Vukodlak, Averse Sefira, Ibex Throne, Burning Winds, Havohej, Judas Iscariot, and Black Witchery. I've understood you're a member of the Church of Satan. How do your misanthropic views fit within the humanistic learning of LaVey? Didn't they (the Church of Satan) also create a kinda herd mentality like christianity? I mean, the Curch of Satan is nowadays a widely accepted religious system with a rather big number of followers, who're accepting what one man says, what a book tells… The satanism of the Church of Satan is an organized religion as I see it. What's then the non-religious difference with another organized religion like christianity? Isn't the Church of Satan a contradiction: satanism is against organized religion, but the CoS is oneself? (Do you get what I try to say? Kinda difficult to do express my feelings towards the CoS in English… Let me first start out saying that I am a member of the Church of Satan because I support what they have been doing since LaVey established it in 1966. Secondly I must say I am not a spokesperson for the CoS but here's a little of my take on what you have asked. Satanism is indeed against organised religion yet the Church of Satan is not a religious institution like per say the Catholic Church is or for that matter any other church. CoS unlike many religions believes that these institutions be taxed yet they have never applied for tax exemption even though they are entitled to it. Most people have a problem with the one time membership free and thus say that the CoS is in it for the money which is incorrect. If this is the case than every zine that charges money for its product could be viewed as the same, which we both know is not the case. Most zines do it for the music and sell their goods in order to continue to operate, which is the case with the Church of Satan. Herd mentality is a product of christianity and I can't say that this is a problem that has plagued Satanism. It's not that people are "following" what one man says, or a book for that matter, yet rather embracing the ideas that LaVey had and further their ideas through their own means and actions. Most members are not even known because they choose to practice in private and not within a group. Also, you are not required to do anything against your own will unlike christianity. As far as religion goes, to me Satanism isn't a religion, but rather a philosophy. Religion dictates how a person must live their life while the CoS dictates nothing upon its members. Satanism is a freethinking philosophy, question everything and live for yourself and no one else. In ways this could be viewed as humanistic by definition, yet is far from it when it comes down to everyday life and practice, hence my misanthropic views. I live by my own laws, not by what some religious institution has decided for me. What may be right and wrong for me may not be the same for th next person. I look upon myself as my own judge, jury, and executioner and take responsibility for my own doings. All I can really say is that people must look deeper into themselves to fully understand what Satanism is really all about. To take a quote from Peter H. Gilmore, "Broaden your perspectives - Satanism doesn't always have to have a Devil present. The world isn't that simple or limited." You live in Florida, so why do you play Black Metal instead of Death Metal? What means Black Metal to you? Is it just music for you, or is it more than that? I play black metal because it's a way of life for me. Death metal may be an extreme form of music but does nothing really for me musically. By playing this form of music, it's our way of spreading our message, a vehicle so to speak, to promote our ideology and beliefs. So yes, Black Metal is much more than music to me. If you were given an AK 47, for who is the first bullet and why? The Pope since he is the highest embodiment of religion still living. Thanx for answering, Xaphan! A last word, curse, advice or threat? Buy the new CD and destroy all possibilities of ever entering the gates of heaven. In the Fourth Reich it will be the christians that lie dead… our holocaust has begun and only blasphemy and sacrilege shall prevail! Heil Satan!!