Interviewed by Lord Melanocyte & answered by Xaphan Before I start this Interview id like to say a huge Hails to Xaphan from Kult Ov Azazel for giving me the opportunity to interview him for my feature on the BM scene in America !! Hails Melanocyte! Ok lets get this bitch underway! For the readers out there reading Parasytical Sadness zine can you start off giving a brief bio of Kult Ov Azazel? We were formed in 1999 under the infernal name of Azazel as a 3 piece bands. Under that name we released a mCD "Order of the Fly" and a promo for the mCD titled "Forever Heaven Gone". Shortly after the recording of "Order of the Fly" our drummer Von left due to personal differences. At this time we found Hellspawn to replace him and recorded the tracks for the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split that will be out this month on Genocide Music. In June of 2000 we changed the name to Kult ov Azazel to distance ourselves from the dozen other bands using the same moniker (past and present). Around the same as the name change we got rid of Hellspawn due to his priorities being all fucked up and brought in Gus Rios (Sickness/Malevolent Creation/Divine Empire) to session drum for us. As this lineup we have continued doing shows and will be using him as well on our full length titled "Triumph of Fire". An Awful lot of history for band only just a year old! Is it true that Kult Ov Azazel started off as a Burzum like solo project why did this idea change? I wouldn't say as a "Burzum like" project but it did start off as a solo project for me. I started doing it as "Azazel" in October of 1998 but didn't get very far, one song actually and it sucked! I'm not very good at programming drum machines so the song was thrown out. I decided that it would be easier if I found others to collaborate with and used the riffs from the one song in our own material. So you have now been signed to an American record label? And was it a hard deal to get signed? For a year or so old band you have done magnificently!!! We tried for a year to get a deal and because we were such a "new" band all labels would say are "Please send us your future recordings". Then Imperial of Krieg came to use and proposed that "Order of the Fly" should be reissued under Blood Fire Death Records, which we agreed with. Between talks with one another he had mentioned also that he wanted to sign us but wouldn't be able to do so for awhile. Shortly after this we were asked by Arctic Music (a new label started by Phil Fasciana of Malevolent Creation) to sign a 4 record deal with them. They offered us good recording costs, promotion and distribution so naturally we took it. Naturally! What are your main influences both non-musical and musical in your music as I hear you are Satanists. Can you confirm this for the readers? My influences non-musically are Satanism, horror, death, and occult writings. Pretty much anything having to do with evil and death. Musically it is thrash/speed metal bands from the 80's that laid the blueprint for what was to be known as Black Metal. Bands like Destruction, Venom, Sodom, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Possessed, Exodus, and so on. Then there are the early 90's Black Metal bands such as Mayhem, Darkthrone, Blasphemy, Profanatica, and Beherit. Yes it is true we are Satanist, myself being the only one out of the band that is affiliated with the Church of Satan. As in the LaVey style of Satanism? Yes. Hails for your in-depth replies!!!! I spoke to you a while ago and you said you had done a cover of Chainsaw Gutsfuck by Mayhem. When will the public get to here this masterpiece? Never!!! Actually since the tribute that we recorded the cover for folded the only way people will hear it is on the Kult ov Azazel "Of Evil and Hatred" promo. Wow very limited edition there readers so keep your copies close to your black hearts!! What are your opinions on the USBM scene? The reason I am writing this feature on the USBM scene is because I feel that it's the strongest in the world. Who would you say are the main Hordes? I think the USBM scene gets stronger and more violent everyday. There are a lot of bands coming off our shores that hold true to heart what black metal is all about. Bands such as Thornspawn, Krieg, Averse Sefira, Judas Iscariot, Blood Storm that are the very essence of Black Metal. Also USBM bands like Vukodlak, Maskim, Bloodshed Divine, Ibex Throne, Robed in Exile are also continuing the blasphemy and hate that fuels the US hordes. The best example of USBM is a comp called "American Black Metal Assault" put out on Infinite Darkness Records out of the Netherlands. It is 17 tracks of total US Black Metal. More bands that come to mind are Burning Winds, Demoncy, Fog, Exile, and Khisanth. This is an amazing release and a great insight into USBM so readers get hold of a copy today!! In a recently conducted interview with Krieg he said that the split was a joke at first! What are your views on how this split came around by two titans of American BM? Yes it was a joke; I mentioned it to Imperial jokingly in a conversation one night and was surprised that he had been interested in doing a split with us. It was originally going to be a split effort between the two bands and be self released until Septimus from Maskim/Genocide Music stepped in and offered to put it out. What are your opinions then on all the pagans Black Metal and tree huggers who worship the earth !? Ok here's the deal- Black metal is about death, evil, Satan, blasphemy, hate, destruction. How the fuck can someone that worships nature embrace the concepts of black metal?!? Pagans, whom we might as well call Wiccans, have no purpose or place within black metal period as well as "radical" christians that like to play our form and call it unblack! These fools, the christians, infect the scene, or any scene for that matter, and do so in the name of "god" or to celebrate life that their "god" has given them. How any of the above ideologies have anything to do with Black Metal is beyond me. Death to Paganism, Death to Christianity, Death to Humanity! What do you feel about the European BM scene at the moment? Seems like the Euro Black Metal scene is still going pretty strong, besides the fact that most of the Norwegian bands seem to be failing at creating black metal. Take Mayhem's newest album, it totally sucks, that's my opinion. Black Metal will never really die in Europe since most of it originated over there but the idea is to ditch the keyboards and drum machines and strip Black Metal back down to it's originating form. If most bands over there did that I think more quality bands would be coming about. I see some valid points there Xaphan!! I am now nearing the end of my interview so what is your honest opinion on the following bands and topics. - Cradle of Filth - Racism in Black Metal - Sell outs such as Satyricon and Emperor [new stuff that is] Cradle of Filth - joke! Racism in Black Metal - Racism is hate isn't it? Hate is a part of black metal. Am I racist? In a sense, I hate everybody. Sellouts such as Satyricon and Emperor - you summed it up yourself. Thank you for your ingenious replies. Before I totally lose it can I say a big thanx for allowing me to interview you and the last lot is up to you to say what you like Xaphan and promote what you like !? 666 hails to you Melanocyte for the interview! The split with Krieg will be out in December and our full length will be out in February of 2001 so be sure to look for them. Check out our website at www.kultovazazel.com or if not online write to us at Kult ov Azazel, PO Box 23308, Ft. Lauderdale FL 33307. Infernal hails to all the US hordes that continue to fly the flag of hate...we shall triumph in fire! Hail Satan!