Prikaz naczelnego jest jedyny, święty i niepodważalny. Więc jako sługa uniżony zostałem oddelegowany do zrobienia wywiadu z czołowymi czcicielami Czarnego Kultu w USA - Kult Ov Azazel. Panowie nagrali bardzo dobry album 'Oculus Infernum', a obecnie ostro pracują nad nowym materiałem, roboczo zatytułowanym 'The World, The Flesh & The Devil'. O muzyce, koneksjach z Malevolent Creation i występie Gorgoroth w Polsce opowie Wam Xaphan, na co dzień szarpiący 6 strun i wydzierający japę w KOA. Interviewed by DoobaN Frozen forests of Poland hails Kult Ov Azazel! How is it going in US? Hails! Things are going well for us at the time. I know that all members of the band are together now. What’s the occasion? We are writing the new album which will be called “The World, The Flesh & The Devil”. A bit of history in the beginning. Please tell us something about founding Kult Ov Azazel. Kult ov Azazel was formed in the spring equinox of 1999 under the infernal name Azazel consisting of Xaphan (myself) on guitar/vocals, Xul on vocals/bass and Von on drums. Under this name and lineup we recorded and released “Order of the Fly”. Soon after Von was booted out and Hellspawn took over drum duties and with this lineup we recorded and released the material on the split CD with Krieg (USA). In the spring of 2000 we kicked out Hellspawn, decided to change the band name to Kult ov Azazel and signed a 4 album deal with Arctic Music. In March 2001 we released our first full length “Triumph of Fire” with Vetis participating as a session drummer on that release. In 2003 we launched our second major offensive for Arctic Music titled “Oculus Infernum” which is the first time we have recorded with a full permanent lineup which now consists of myself (vocals/guitar), Xul (vocals/ bass), Nocturath (guitar/backing vocals) and The Hammer (drums). Currently we are working on a new album titled “The World, The Flesh & The Devil”. Xul and Xaphan were the founders of the band. How did you get Nocturath and Hammer for spreading the Satan’s word? Nocturath we met around the end of 1999 and had been introduced to us through Imperial of Krieg. He originally was to be added to the bands lineup back in 2001 after the release of “Triumph of Fire” but due to some certain circumstances this never happened. The Hammer I met when I was over in Europe for a Hateplow tour and he happened to be our tour manager. At the time Kult ov Azazel was searching for a drummer since we had used a session drummer on “Triumph of Fire” and it just so happened Hammer was a drummer. After the tour was over and we were both back home he came down to Florida, he’s a New York resident, and things clicked and he was added to the lineup. As we’re about the members of the band, I wanted to say that Vetis’ nor Von’s drum play didn’t get my attention. But Hammer’s drums just kills – great blasts! I agree with you. The Hammer’s drumming and dedication have been great assets. In short time you’d changed your name from Azazel to Kult Ov Azazel. Did you have any misunderstandings with other bands? Or just wanted to have an original name? The name change was to keep others from confusing us with other bands named Azazel whether it is past or present ones. It's really not a smart idea to change the name of your band after establishing it with a release like we had done with “Order of the Fly” so instead of changing our name all together we opted to add to it so it would not cause confusion and it would keep us from having to establish a whole new name. The first CD was a self release. Was it hard to release ‘Order Of The Fly’? Yes it was extremely difficult. It was not a cheap endeavor to venture into but if we had not done it we would most likely not be where we are now. Both Xul and I basically took every dime we worked for to do them. It became quite costly and for that reason not many of them were put out. We ended up cranking out 200 copies before we went broke. With ‘Triumph Of Fire’ you’d joined Arctic Music. How did you get the deal? With the deal we were kind of in the right place at the right time. We were using Vetis (Gus Rios) on drums to help us out on some local shows. He was also at the time helping out Malevolent Creation with writing on "Envenomed" and since his drum kit was at the Malevolent warehouse we had to rehearse there. One night Phil stuck around and heard us and a few days later asked if we would sign with Arctic Music a label he had started with a partner named Scott. He said the intentions behind Arctic Music would be to release the most extreme forms of metal possible. We looked at the contract and decided it was the best offer we had received up until that point in time and ran with it from there. It has been one of the best decisions this band has ever made. ‘Oculus Infernum’ is your second CD for that label. Are you happy with the cooperation? The cooperation has been very good. Phil and Scott have helped us out tremendously over the past three and a half years. Unlike labels that like to force their ideas and ways upon bands, Arctic gives us free will to do whatever it is we please from an artistic standpoint. We have had total say in the recording of every album we have done for them and even produced this last effort by ourselves. They have done a great job in promoting our releases and getting them out there. All I can really say is that we are completely pleased with all the support they have given us since we signed with them. What’s on the cover of ‘Oculus Infernum’? Is it some sort of machinery…? Yes it’s called “The Rack”. The cover art is a grim interpretation of a torture chamber and its devices therein. It was inspired by a Nocturathian vision of the reversal of parts in a time such as The Crusades and reflects the lyrics to the title track of the album. Inside the woodcuts and images interact with the theme of the lyrics making this album homage to the eternal death of purity and sanctity. What about lyrics… Only Hammer didn’t appear in the writing process, so you seem to be a complete band in lyrics/music writing process. On the new album yes, but not so much in the past. Xul was responsible for our lyrical content from the “Order of the Fly” up to “Triumph of Fire”. I only wrote lyrics for one song back then which was “Destruction to the Throne of God”. But on the new album I wrote the majority of the lyrics with Xul contributing a few songs and Nocturath penning the lyrics/music for title track. You also appeared on few splits (with Krieg and Satan’s Blood). Do you like the idea of split CDs? And let’s not forget the 4 way split we did with Obitus, Humanicide and Thylord. I do like the idea of splits because it gives us the opportunity to collaborate with other bands that we support and have admiration for. It also gives not only us, but the other band(s) the chance of being heard by those that support our horde and vice versa. You’ve recorded covers of Mayhem, Hellhammer and Beherit for various occasions. What did influence your choice? You can now add Sodom to that list since we have just recorded a cover of “Blasphemer” which will be used on a future release but to answer the question the motives behind doing covers has been more or less our way of honoring bands which have inspired us over the years. Kult Ov Azazel plays raw black metal. The cradle of that style is Scandinavia. How do you find yourselves on the US metal scene and especially Florida, which always tend to be a death metal region. I have read and heard those that have the opinion that we are among the best and those that think we suck so it is all relative to who you ask. We don’t really sit around wondering where in the big picture of things we exist. Fact of the matter is there will always be ones that think something is the greatest thing since white bread and those that hate white bread. Regardless of what people think we will continue to carry on. Did you hear about any Polish black metal bands? I know that Behemoth stroke US some time ago… Yeah Behemoth was over last year. Killer band for sure. As for polish black metal, yes we are in contact with quite a few bands from your country. I don’t like mentioning names and shit in interviews because people either think it’s asskissing or name dropping but I will say that in my opinion you guys have one of the strongest scenes next to Germany and France on the European continent. Did you think about any tours in Europe. I’m sure that your gig in Poland would be sold to the last sit! Right now there are no immediate plans to do any touring of Europe. Of course this is something we do think about but the opportunity has never risen to make it a reality. Believe me I wish it would. I would like nothing more than to come over and destroy the European masses leaving a trail of debauchery and blasphemy forever etched into European history. As we’re in the tour’s subject… Did you heard about Gorgoroth’s show in Poland? Yeah I heard about it. I don’t remember Poland being that overtly religious at least it didn’t seem like it was when I was there in 2001. It is crazy from what I have read the police are involved and turned it into some kind of criminal probe. Who would have known that a few decapitated sheep heads and a crucified naked woman would cause such frenzy? Haha! Anyhow hats off to Gorgoroth for causing such uproar with in the Catholic community of Poland. Ok, last words for fans in Poland! Hails for the interview and salutes to our comrades amongst the polish scene. Those that wish to contact us can do so at Kult ov Azazel, PO Box 23308, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33307, USA or for those too lazy or impatient to do shit the old way we have a website at www.kultovazazel.com and we can be contacted through it