Prelude to Darkness - Greetings Xaphan, Kult ov Azazel is a band that is composed of two members and a short data because it was formed back in April 99, what can you tell us about the band itself? How long are you into the scene? Have you ever played in any other band? Xaphan - Infernal hails! Kult ov Azazel was formed under the name Azazel back in October of 1998 if we go back to when I first started to record as a one man project. Quickly I got tired of working by myself and once I ran into Xul it was evident that he was the other musical entity I was looking for. At this point in April of 1999 we brought in Beleth to play drums and that lasted about 2 weeks before Von came along. As this lineup we recorded our first self released mCD titled "Order of the Fly". We began playing shows around South Florida and about September of 1999 Von left the band being replaced by Mortis on drums. Mortis lasted until November until we kicked him out. At this point we began using Gus Rios (Sickness/Malevolent Creation/Divine Empire) as a live drummer and continued to play shows around the area. In December Hellspawn came into the picture as a permanent drummer and with him we recorded the tracks for the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split CD. In June of 2000 we changed the name from Azazel to Kult ov Azazel. We became sick of being associated and confused with past or present bands so the name change seemed appropriate. Around this time Hellspawn left the band and Gus began playing shows with us again. As of right now, Gus will be playing on the full length "Triumph of Fire" but only as a session drummer. Once the album is finished we are back to looking for a full time drummer to tour and begin writing new songs with. I have been into the scene in one form or another since 1990 and I played in a Death Metal band back in 93 which consisted of myself on guitar, Justin Rimer on guitar and Crazy Larry Hawke (Malevolent Creation/Hate Plow) on drums/vocals. We recorded a 3-song demo that was never released. Prelude to Darkness - What can you tell us about the matter related to the name of the band and how it was changed? Xaphan - Well this first came about when we got an email from someone claiming to be from a Finnish band called Azazel from back in '94. In the email this person threatened to sue us if we did not change the name. We on the other hand sent them back an email replying "Fuck you!". This whole incident went from bad to worse when this person decided to start sending out mass emails proclaiming us to be a shitty US black metal band although they had never even heard our material. The whole thing was a farce. We continued on using the name and then I find out from Akhenaten from Judas Iscariot that there is a band from Israel named Azazel as well. At this point I decided to research the name and found out not only was there a band from Finland and one in Israel but also there was ones from Mexico, New Zealand, California, and North Carolina. At this point we decided that it was time to make a name change. I was opposed to totally renaming the band since we had worked hard to get the name out and had obtained excellent reviews under the moniker Azazel. I explained to Xul it would be better to add to the name instead of starting all over again and that is when we came up with the name Kult ov Azazel. Prelude to Darkness - We have read you're looking for a new drummer, why haven't you had a permanent one? Could you tell us what happened with Beleth, Von, and Gus Rios? Is there any special or similar reason for which they all left the band? Xaphan - Yes, we are looking for a new drummer and the reasons behind all our drummers leaving differ except for Mortis who we kicked out. Gus is only helping us out and is also a supreme drummer but has other commitments that won't allow him to pursue Kult ov Azazel further than doing the album. If anyone out there is interested in drumming for us then contact us at the email address or snail mail address at the end of the interview. If you can't continually blast for 50 minutes don't bother cause you won't make it, ask our other drummers! Prelude to Darkness - Tell us a little bit about your musical influences, we know Mayhem is one of them, and as we all know they have varied their style, how do you see the current Mayhem? Xaphan - My musical influences stem from growing up in the 80's. At the age of 11 I got Venom's "Welcome to Hell" and from that point all I listened to was underground music. Most of my influences come from of course Venom, but also Destruction, Sodom, Possessed, Hellhammer, and Exodus; there's a ton of great bands from back then. I started doing a zine in 1990 and at that point I was introduced to Darkthrone, Burzum, Mayhem, Blasphemy, Beherit, old Samael which also has brought influence into my musical style. Prelude to Darkness - You performed Mayhem's Chainsaw Gutsfuck as cover, which was destined to appear in an album tribute that couldn't be released due to reason we don't know about, at any case, what can you tell us about the choice of Chainsaw Gutsfuck and how you decided to participate in this unreleased tribute? Xaphan - Mike Meacham (Warhammer Records) asked us after finding one of our flyers at Milwaukee Metalfest if we would be interested in doing it. We originally were going to do Pure Fucking Armageddon but somehow ended up doing Chainsaw Gutsfuck. How this happened I don't even remember. Anyway we recorded the song sent it in and a year later find out the tribute would not see the light of day. Basically what it came down to was 3 other bands plus ourselves submitted songs. There weren't enough bands that agreed to participate that sent submissions in and the guy doing the tribute decided to scrap the idea. Prelude to Darkness - You have signed with Arctic Music, why or how did you decide to deal with it? We think you're the first black metal band in signing with them, aren't you? Xaphan - Yes as it stands we are the first and only black metal band Arctic Music has signed. I think we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We had 2 shows lined up, one opening for Dismember and the other opening for Mayhem so we asked Gus to play the shows with us. At that time he was helping out Malevolent Creation with the "Envenomed" album yet agreed to play those 2 shows with us. Since his drum set was set up at the Malevolent warehouse we ended up rehearsing there were Phil heard us and instantly mentioned he was going to sign us since he was looking for bands for his label Arctic Music. I have been friends with Phil since around 1993 so it seemed natural that he would offer us a deal yet I wasn't going to ask him for one. I had even given him a CD months before this but it wasn't until after he witnessed us practice did he decide that we were worth being signed. Prelude to Darkness - How do you see the USBM scene nowadays? many good bands are being listened, what's the main reason in your way of thinking for which USBM is getting more powerful and strong? We have been able to listen to bands such as Judas Iscariot, Corvuz Corax, Ezurate, Averse Sefira, now Kult ov Azazel, among others. Maybe you could recommend us some others? Xaphan - The USBM scene is getting more notice because it embraces what "true" black metal is all about. There is raw power behind what we are doing over here as well as extreme hate for humanity. We live in world where everyday we deal with mindless, ignorant people preaching the word of god in some way or another. USBM has become a release for the ones that are able to understand it and perform it so it naturally comes out raw and hateful and aggressive. Some other bands from the States I think worth checking out are Krieg, Vukodlak, Ibex Throne, Bloodshed Divine, Cryptic Winds, Black Witchery, and Exiled (formerly Brimstone). Prelude to Darkness - What about the European black metal scene? We think that even though there are still excellent bands over there, the ones that were once called cult bands are making an effort to create something new (not all of them of course), which in many cases gets away from the black metal itself. Xaphan - The European black metal scene is still going pretty strong it seems. Lots of new and kult bands seem to be spewing forth from over there. The thing is this; the European black metal bands in ways tend to stray from what black metal is really all about by incorporating keyboards and female vocals and trying to "beautify" the music. If perhaps many of the bands took note of how the USBM bands strip Black Metal back down to it's true form then I think many quality bands would be coming out of Europe. Go back and listen to "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" and find the beauty in that. You won't cause there is none! That's exactly how black metal should be!! Prelude to Darkness - The new band's logo was designed by Christophe Szpajdel, how and why did you get in touch with him? Is it possible that he also designs the CD cover for the album "Triumph of Fire"? Xaphan - Christophe actually contacted us after receiving one of the emails being spread by the unknown Finnish person. He offered to do a logo for us but at the time we were satisfied with the logo we had. Once we decided to change the name I contacted him again and asked if the offer still stood. He was still willing to do our logo and we are very happy with the way it came out. Many hails to you Christophe if you ever read this! As far as the "Triumph of Fire" cover goes we are using a friend named Josh Bowens, who by the way did the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split. He's a very kick ass graphics artist and knows the band so his ideas combined with ours seems the best way to go. Prelude to Darkness - Could you give us an advance about what your new album "Triumph of Fire" will bring? What will be the concept of the album? And how much different from "Evil & Hatred" or "Order to Fly" it might be? Xaphan - Triumph of Fire will be 40 minutes of blistering anti-christian onslaught! It will be an 11-song release. It will contain 7 new songs and 4 old songs redone (2 songs from Order of the Fly and 2 songs from the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split). Musically it will be very different from "Order of the Fly" and "Kult ov Azazel/Krieg" split (since "Of Evil and Hatred" was really just a 2 song promo to promote the split). The only reason why I say different is now that we have a good solid drummer the songs will in themselves be written a lot better. Another factor that will make this recording different is "Triumph of Fire" will actually be recorded in a real studio as opposed to our past releases where we recorded them ourselves on an 8 track in our warehouse. There really is no concept behind the album but the ideas behind the songs are Satanism, Misanthropy, and Blasphemy. Song titles for the album are Triumph of Fire, To the Cold Beyond, My Misanthropy, Altar of Satan, Embrace the Burning, Legions Unleashed, Destruction to the Throne of god, In the Plagued Realm, Aether Cries, Crown of Fire and XI (which is actually parts of Le Messe Noir otherwise called The Black Mass put to music). Prelude to Darkness - What's the ideological influence behind Kult ov Azazel? Xaphan - The ideological influence behind us is Satanism. It is our purpose to destroy the infection of judeo-christianity that continues to plague society around us. Prelude to Darkness - You are member of the Church of Satan, Xul isn't, but he shares the ideology, do you think it's so important to play together with some one who shares your same ideas? Xaphan - Yes, I think it's very important to play in a band with others that share the same ideology as myself. I think it's also important that you play with people you get along with as well. This has been a major part as to why we have been through so many drummers, since most of them either Xul or myself just did not get along with. Plus I can tend to be an asshole at times depending on what mood I may be in that day, so another important thing is that I play with people that can put up with my shit and be able deal with it at the same time. Prelude to Darkness - What's atmosphere that can be perceived in your concerts? And what bands have you played with? Xaphan - I would have to say it's a pretty chaotic atmosphere. We have played with many bands. Ones I can think of would be Mayhem, Dismember, Vader, Cannibal Corpse, Krisiun, Hate Eternal, Angel Corpse, Cryptic Winds, Hate Plow, Diabolic, Divine Empire, Exhumed and Kataklysm. Prelude to Darkness - You are from Florida, haven't you had obstacles or difficulties to develop within the limits of a prevailing death metal scene? Xaphan - None what so ever. Prelude to Darkness - Do you have any final comments or words you'd like to add? Xaphan - Thanks for the interview. The Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split CD on Genocide Music should be out soon and "Triumph of Fire" will be unleashed in February of 2001. We are also currently searching for a permanent drummer so anybody reading this that may be interested contact us. Check out our website at www.kultovazazel.com or contact us by snail mail at Kult ov Azazel, PO Box 23308, Ft. Lauderdale FL 33307. Good luck with Prelude in Darkness and hails to everyone that has supported our christian holocaust. Hail fucking Satan!