Interviewed by Jose & answered by Xaphan How long has Kult Ov Azazel been around? We have been around for two and a half years. We formed in April of 1999 under the name Azazel and released a mCD called "Order of the Fly" that was released 4 months later. This CD is what helped us establish our name in the underground since copies were sold worldwide. The CD also got killer reviews and airplay especially over in Europe. Shortly after that we were asked to be on a couple of compilations, some of them never materializing and others did. The first compilation that we were featured on was "American Black Metal Assault" put out by Infinite Darkness Records out of the Netherlands. We were also contacted by Rich of Lost Disciple and were included in the Lost Disciple compilation "Visionaries of the Macabre Vol. 2 -An Evil Elite." From that point talks between Imperial from Krieg and myself started to transpire and the idea was born for what would come to be known as the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split CD that was eventually released on Genocide Music. Around this time Blood Fire Death Records offered to reissue "Order of the Fly" again. By this time we had already changed the name to Kult ov Azazel so we agreed and one year after the initial release the MCD was reissued under the new name with an additional live track. Just months after that we were offered a contact by Arctic Music which we took and out of it has come the new CD "Triumph of Fire." Well you've got this album, Triumph of Fire, totally fucking fast blistering black metal! Tell the readers why they should get this album right now, and why posers should stay the fuck away from it. First off people that are into poser-esque style black metal will not like this album since its not ridden with gay keyboards, female vocals and vampire lyrics. This album is 100% black fucking evil from the beginning to the end. "Triumph of Fire" is the incarnation of hatred, destruction and blasphemy in a musical form. 40 minutes of antichristian, misanthropic black metal to slay the masses! So if your sick of all the shit that has plagued the black metal scene for the past 5 or 6 years and want to hear the true essence of what black metal is and used to be then go out and get a copy of "Triumph of Fire." Buy or die motherfuckers! What's the local scene like there in Florida, how well known is KOA out there? The local scene here is ok. When we first started out there was no scene. When we played shows we were lucky to even play with other extreme bands. After about 3 or 4 gigs I got tired of this fact and decided to do something about it. Along with the help of two other close friends we went to a certain club and told the owner he had to start bringing in death/black metal bands if we were going to continue to play around here. He agreed and since we have played with the likes of Immolation, Krisiun, Mayhem, Gorguts, Goatwhore, Vader, Angel Corpse, Mayhem, Exhumed, Hate Eternal, Cryptic Winds, Hateplow, Kataklysm, Dismember, Dying Fetus, Cephalic Carnage, Deeds of Flesh, Disgorge, Mortal Decay, Diabolic, Divine Empire and Cannibal Corpse. So all in all the scene here has grown in the past two years and we have also gained a reputation around here as well. Every show we play more and more people show up and a ton more of merch is sold so I guess those two things speak for themselves. Outside of music, what inspires you in life? Most of my nonmusical inspirations would be different philosophies and texts. Mostly Satanic/Nihilistic philosophy and occult sciences. So off the top of my head, books by LaVey, Nietzsche, Rand, Redbeard, Crowley, Mathers, Waite, King, Carroll, along with other writings of various authors and sources. What are your influences? It would be bands like Venom, Destruction, Sodom, Exodus, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Possessed, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Beherit, Kreator, Gorgoroth, Hobbs and the list could go on. There have been many bands since 1982 that have in some way or another inspired me so the above-mentioned ones I would say have had the most influence on me. You guys just played CBGB's in NY with Cadaver Inc. and Abazagorath not too long ago, when can we expect KOA to come back around these parts again? Right now that is kind of up in the air. There were plans to do a few weeks of shows this fall and at this point that has fallen through. So the only show we have booked as of now is the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child fest that will take place in San Antonio, TX on December 1. This will be a one-day show in which we will share the stage with other blasphemous hordes such as Thornspawn, Krieg, Bloodstorm, Demonic Christ, Black Witchery, Inquisition, Noctuary, Gnostic and Infernal Oak. Describe the KOA live experience. There's not a whole lot to this. Theatrics are useless to me and the other guys in this band. With a basic Kult ov Azazel show you will see lots of spikes, bullet belts and corpsepaint. Occasionally and if I feel like it you may see some fire breathing as well. Other than that we just get up there and go, no special planning goes into our shows or anything. What you see is what you get in other words. Since you saw us at CBGB's you tell me what a Kult ov Azazel live experience is like. Any last words? Many hails for giving us this interview. Any additional information on the band and bullshit of that nature can be found at our website which is www.kultovazazel.com. If you feel the need to write to us through snail mail use the address at the bottom, hate mail is welcomed. All others can fuck off! Those of the opposition shall be crushed in our campaign of de-evolution. The truth is obvious, death is our sign above. Hail Victory, Hail Satan!