Interviewed by Astus666 & answered by Xaphan Hellish greetings from Poland! Thanx for answering my questions! Hails! Thanks for taking the time and having the interest to include us in Panzerfaust. Your new album, "Oculus Infernum" is a pure mayhemic piece of raw and furious black-metal... But it’s not so hard to hear some melodies between the overwhelming ugly, fast and aggressive riffings. Do you think you got the right balance between rawness and melodies on this album? I do believe we got the balance right. I can understand that many will have a hard time distinguishing the melodies perhaps, but these melodies or harmonies are there to enhance the song rather than play a big part, thus why the harmonies aren’t right in your face. We spent a lot of time on the mix down of this album so by taking our time and not rushing things I think we got the balance exactly how we thought it should sound. Either way I’m very satisfied with the end result. How do you want the listener of KULT OV AZAZEL to feel when they hear a CD of yours? This is a good question and something I have never really given much thought too. The feeling of absolutely hate would be the feeling we would be shooting for, or the need to destroy, either would be the outcome. After the 8th song finished there are some minutes of silence in your album until the 66th song sounds. What could you tell me about this track? I suppose that 66 songs have a connection with a number 666? Well that was the idea, to have the song start on track 66 at .06 seconds. This song is a Beherit cover of “Black Arts”. Nothing really more to say on this subject. What promotion will be done for the new release? A possible tour? We hope to tour for this album but there’s no immediate plans. Our label takes care of the promotional aspect of our releases so I’d imagine not only having sent zines/metal radio shows promos that they’ll be doing ads and the like in zines and whatnot. KULT OV AZAZEL exists since 1999, so you're rather a young band. But since that time you've unleashed two albums and several other releases. How do you do it that you're so productive he, he? Where do you find a motivation to play the music and release it? Can you describe your feelings about the writing songs, recording them? The motivation is always there. It’s just a matter of being inspired by something to pound out crushing riffs and create a song. My feeling about writing is that it must come to you. Too many people just throw songs together and what they end up with is a bunch of uninspired songs. It’s the complete opposite for me. If I don’t have the inspiration then I don’t bother writing because the last thing I want to see this band fall into is the category of being a band that just spews forth shit material. As for recording, I really like the recording process. It’s in this mode that many of our songs begin to take on a new identity. The recording process can be very stressful though but the final outcome is always worth every second spent on the work. In 2003 you’ll also unleash Kult ov Azazel/Satan’s Blood split 7” and “Assaulting the Masses” CD. What songs have you recorded for it? Could you tell something more about them, how would you compare them with the sound of “Oculus Infernum”? Were all the songs recorded in the same time and place? The “Assaulting the Masses” release has been out for about 2 months now and it was released on LP. This is an official live album put out by Autopsy Stench Records, who will also be responsible for the split 7”. The songs for our portion of the split will be a new track and a cover of Hellhammer’s “The Third of the Storms”. These songs were tracked when did the “Oculus Infernum” recording so the sound you get on the new CD is what you’ll get on the 7”. I've found also in your discography a 4-way split with Obitus, Thylord and Humanicide (2000, Christcrusher Records). Could you tell more something more about this release and also about the bands you shared this CD with? The bands that are on this are all crushing. We were contacted by Christcrusher about doing this split and after hearing the other bands it was evident we should be on it. The material isn’t anything new, or at the time it wasn’t. We used 2 songs from the “Order of the Fly” mCD and 2 songs from the split with Krieg. But it was an opportunity for us to spread our blasphemies to people that may not have ever had an interest in us. All in all we were much honored to have been asked and to have shared this release with the other 3 killer bands. In your last e-mail I've found the quote: "There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship." - Marquis de Sade. Is this your life-motto or something? Is there a meaning in your existence? What is your interpretation of these words? No this is not my life motto, only one of the many quotes by Marquis de Sade that I find interesting. It has been discussed whether Satanism is a religion or a philosophic way to see things. What is your opinion about this? This question is always up for debate. My personal opinion on this is that Satanism is a philosophy, a way to live by. I don’t see it being a religion although many people seem to think it is. In order for something to be a religion, you need a god/devil scenario which Satanism doesn’t incorporate. You also need lies based on deceit, self loathing, hypocrisy all of which are shunned by Satanism. Do you feel scorn towards this world and its inhabitants? How would a world created at your image look like? Do you believe in the existence of "true love" and "happiness" or do you think they’re just illusions created by mankind? Well there’s always a balance so to have hate you must have love. Do I think happiness exists, yes I do. Happiness to me doesn’t mean walking around smiling and being joyful to others. Complete happiness is when a person is at one with themselves. As for the question about this world, I personally find 99.5% of humanity useless and unimportant. So do I feel scorn towards them, the answer would be yes along with disgust and loathing. A world created by myself would look much like a world after a nuclear devastation. On the album’s booklet there are some pictures of torture instruments. Do you find pleasure in torturing? What is the beauty of pain to you? How is it possible to find beauty in pain? Do I find pleasure in torture, no. Yes there are torture instruments on the album but this is because that’s the concept behind the lyrics of the song “Oculus Infernum”. Nocturath, the new guitarist, wrote the lyrics for this song as well as did the layout so he combined the imagery on the CD look with the lyrics to the song. The only beauty in pain is when you are inflicting it upon someone else. Have you heard DARKTHRONE's "Hate Them", a new album? What do you think about it? In my opinion it's their best release since "Panzerfaust" album, they have come back into the rawness and uglyness which was absent a bit on the previous recordings (at least it's my own opinion). And what's more they still play their own style, without any useless experiments... They deserves for a great respect, don't you think? Yes I have and this is by far the best release since Panzerfaust so we agree there! Darkthrone has always been a big inspiration for me since I heard “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” back in 1991 or maybe it was 1992, either way it ruled me and from that time I bought everything they put out. People that don’t respect Darkthrone should get out of black metal immediately! As far as I know you haven't really played that many live shows yet, so what is the reason for that? Lack of interest from your side or lack of offers from promoters / clubs / other bands? Tell us a bit more about those few selected shows you did so far and how they turned out for you? In your opinion: what's the most important aspect about a KULT OV AZAZEL gig? Actually we have played many shows in our home state but very few out of state and none out of the country. I can tell you it’s definitely not a lack of interest on our part. But in the past we have been really limited in the gigs we choose due to personal schedules of other members. Now that we have a complete line up and are no longer using session members this seems to have changed so like I said earlier we hope to do some touring now the new album is out. The gigs we have done outside of Florida have been the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child Festival and a gig in NY with Cadaver Inc., Goreaphobia, Black Mass and a few others. The SotNC fest was by far the best gig we have done because it solely involved black metal bands for black metal maniacs!! The turn out was ok but being a part of this was a big honor for us as well as sharing the stage with other great bands from this country. And regarding the gig in NY, it sucked! The turn out was shit and it was a total waste of time for us!! But all in all we have done over 50 shows locally and every time with a good turnout, so the out of state shows have been hit or miss. As for the most important aspect of a Kult ov Azazel show, this would absolutely be the music and the energy created. To end with something different...What do you besides abusing and torturing your instruments with KULT OV AZAZEL? Well Kult ov Azazel takes up 100% of my time since I’m the one that does all the mail, the interviews, website updates, etc. But when I’m not doing these things I’m usually drinking and raising hell. I run live sound for a living so this takes me out on the road at times as does a side project I play bass in. But all in all I dedicate all my time and effort into Kult ov Azazel. Thanks for this interview! Many hails for the interview! Anyone looking for more information on the band can find it at www.kultovazazel.com or write to Kult ov Azazel, Po Box 23308, Fort Lauderdale FL 33307, USA. The new CD “Oculus Infernum” is out now and we still have past releases available. I urge those that have backed us to pick up a copy of the new CD and for those that have said nothing but shit about our horde, you can fuck off eternally!!!!