Interviewd by JuuKun, answered by Xaphan Hailz, and welcome to yet another interview for Black Metal Month here at Metal Insanity. For this interview, I'm here with Xaphan of Kult Ov Azazel from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. How's the black metal scene in Ft. Lauderdale? No such thing exists in Fort Lauderdale. When did you guys form? We formed in 1999 as Azazel, released a few promos and a mCD then changed the name to Kult ov Azazel in 2000. Kult Ov Azazel...Ah, black metal bands always have the most interesting names. Who chose the name, and what was the inspiration for it? By trade I am a concert sound engineer, after doing that for 7 nights a week over a four year period I took a break and got a day job that allowed me time to play guitar again, at which time I started a project under the name Azazel. In all monotheistic religions, Azazel in short represents the epitome of all evil and as a defiler of humanity dedicated to destroying and corrupting humanity. Soon after I met Xul things developed into a band. After self releasing the first mCD and we sent them out to labels we started to find out that Azazel was a name used by many bands. It was this time we decided to lengthen the name to what it is now which was a move to distance ourselves from other bands using the moniker. What are your influences, musical and otherwise? For me it's the extreme metal of the early to mid eighties and of the early to mid nineties musically. Literature wise books involving the occult and philosophy. Equipment, what do you and the rest of the band use for drums, bass, guitar, etc? Hammer has a Yamaha Power Stage Custom and down here in Florida a Mapex V series used for rehearsal purposes. The drum specs are two kicks with Axis A short board pedals, four rack toms, two floor toms, Pearl free float brass piccolo snare, four china, two hi-hats, three crash and splash cymbals, one ride and a Roland D4 module/pad for triggering intros/samples. Xul in the past only used BC Rich Warlock basses but has recently switched over to a Tobias bass which model I am unsure. The BC Rich used as a backup. Amp wise he runs into a Tech21 Sansamp Bass Driver to an Ampeg SVT-4PRO head into an 8x10 Ampeg cabinet. I use two Jackson RR Professional V guitars with EMG 85/81 pickups and my backups are a BC Rich NJ Ironbird and Warlock. My amp set up is two pedals, a Boss Metal Zone looped through a Boss Suppressor pedal into a Mesa Dual Rectifier connected to two 4x12 Marshall cabinets. Necrol, the newest member, uses a Crate Blue Voodoo head, Jackson RR Flying V along with an ESP Eclipse and various types of cabinets. It all depends on what he can get his hands on. How do the crowds usually react at shows? It varies. We've seen crowds stand like petrified statues frozen in horror to full-blown chaos and violence in the audience. You had the chance to play a show with Celtic Frost on their Monotheist tour. How was that? Being a huge fan of both Hellhammer and the early Celtic Frost albums it was for me a childhood dream come true, literally! Really cool guys and an honor to have had the opportunity to talk to on a personal level. Amazing live band!!! Any upcoming dates? If all goes as planned we will be doing one show in Southern Mexico during September in or around the city of Villahermosa. Outside of that we are more or less focusing on getting the next album written, recorded and released. You're currently working on the follow-up to 2005's "The World, The Flesh & The Devil", an album titled "Destroying The Sacred". What's your opinion on any of the new material? It's coming along nicely. In my opinion our last album was by far the best material we have written ever so I think that the new album will be a perfect successor. What's your favorite Kult Ov Azazel song to play live? Can't say I have one. I enjoy playing them all. If you could tour with any band, past or present, who would it be? Past: Venom. Present: Darkthrone or Gorgoroth. Why? All three bands have been very influential to me. Venom was the first band to turn me onto extreme satanic music in 1984 and without a doubt the originators of the genre. Darkthrone and Gorgoroth rekindled that musical flame for me in the early nineties. If someone wanted to know what you guys sounded like, how would you describe your music to them? We play heretical black metal exclusively. Thanks again, Xaphan, for your participation in our Black Metal Month. Any last statements? Those unfamiliar with the band can find more information at www.kultovazazel.com or www.myspace.com/kultovazazel. Thanks for your interest and support!