Kult ov Azazel hail from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and are part of the new crushing wave of US black metal. They play pure blasphemous black metal the way it should be played with a touch of death metal thrown in. I got a chance to speak with Xaphan (guitarist/backing vokills) and here is what came from this unholy warriors mouth! This was conducted in May of 2001 by Drachnor.

Hailz Xaphan! A lot has been happening with Kult ov Azazel in the past couple of months. How did you guys end up signing with Arctic Music?

Hails! Basically the way we ended up signing with Arctic was being in the right place at the right time. Phil Fasciana and Malevolent Creations manager Scott Hecker started up their own label and Phil actually sat in on a Kult ov Azazel practice and that pretty much secured us a deal.

Awesome! How long have you known Phil? I know in the Order of the Fly mCD you gave him thanks. That was released almost 2 years ago if I'm not mistaken.

I have known Phil since I moved to Florida in 1993.

How did you guys meet up?

I started a band once I moved down here and our drummer ended up being Crazy Larry who had played with Malevolent Creation. I meet Phil through Larry.

Cool... You guys have been getting A LOT of exposure recently. Especially with you guys getting signed and with the release of the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split. Has this affected you guys at all?

No it hasn't affected us. Whether we get a lot of exposure or no exposure at all it will never have an impact on us as people or as a band.

I recently spoke with Scott and he told me that the first pressing is completely sold out. How do you feel about this?

I think it's pretty ackward. I didn't expect the CD to get the response it has. I'm actually shocked to tell you the truth

Ackward is a good word to describe it. How was your reaction to the KoA/Krieg split? When I spoke with Imperial he was very disappointed in the way it was handled.

I haven't really been keeping up on the Kult ov Azazel/Krieg split. Yeah Imperial had expressed some disappointment about the way he thought things were handled which he has total right in doing. Obviously it hasn't done too bad since the first 1000 pressed are all gone now in just 3 months time. Genocide is about to repress another 1000 copies since it did so well.

Killer! You are always having drummer problems. Have you found a permanent drummer? Your also filling the bass duties for Hate Plow now. How was touring in Europe? Any interesting stories.

The tour in Europe was crazy. Interesting stories huh? I was playing a burn of Triumph of Fire in Essen Germany and I had this guy begging me to sell him the burn I had. This guy wasn't taking no for an answer. I gave him some KoA stickers because I couldn't understand him and he couldn't understand me. He got pissed and held the stickers up to his ears and complained he could not hear the stickers. Finally he offered me 30 dollars for this CDR with a makeshift cover and still got the answer NO! It was funny at the time I suppose.

Haha! That's awesome! How is the difference in fanz from Europe compared to USA?

Everyone in Europe is totally into metal, it's like they live and breath it which is how it should be. The fans of extreme metal in the States don't hold a candle to the freaks in Europe.

Any plans on a KoA tour? Will you guyz be at the MetalFest?

Yeah there is talk of us going out in July/August. If this happens all depends on our drummer situation. As for Metalfest, no we won't be playing it this year.

I heard some rumors you will be appearing at the SotNC fest in Texas? Is there any truth behind this?

Yes, that is indeed the truth and not a rumor. We'll be playing the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child in San Antonio, TX the first weekend in December.

What about the first annual Blood Fire Death fest. That will be taking place in your native Florida. Any appearance?

Yes, we'll be playing that fest as well. It's taking place here in Ft. Lauderdale in October. Both fest I'm looking very forward to playing.

I'll be at both. We'll have to get drunk! Being as how you have no drummer. I'm guessing you guyz haven't been working on new material?

No, we're working on new material. Just because we have no drummer doesn't mean we stop writing music.

That's killer! Are you involved in any other projects besides Hate Plow? Is Xul involved in anything else?

Nope, I'm just involved with Hate Plow and Xul pretty much just works and concentrates on KoA.

That's cool. Are you guys featured on any compilations or tribute CD's?

We have been on a few compilations. The 2 that are out that we appeared on would be "American Black Metal Assault" put out by Infinite Darkness Records and the Lost Disciple "Visionaries of the Macabre Vol. 2 - An Evil Elite". We'll also be appearing on your comp when it is unleashed.

So let's talk about you, when is that coming out?

Let me get this straight Your interviewing me? haha.. this is a first.

And who else is on it?

Well the "Demonic Scriptures" compilation will be unleashed in August/September.. Through my label Drachnorian Hymms and Blood Fire Death Records...

OK enough talk about you, let's talk about me some more.

As of now the bands appearing are: Krieg, Kult ov Azazel, Noctuary, Vukodlak, Cryptic Winds, Bloodshed Divine, Ezurate, Nihasa, Robed in Exile, Serberus, Misanthropy, Demoncy, Infernal Hatred, Grand Belial’s Key and Crucifier will most likely be on it as well.

I wonder what happened with Robed in Exile? I use to talk to the one guy all the time then he seemed to just vanish.

Nick is a strange fellow... He is online here and there. I believe their drummer just got out of jail so we can expect to hear more from them in the future.

So the drummer is out now, killer.

Yeah. Crazy story on why he got arrested also.

I have a bunch of their demos, those guys are fucking grim.

Yeah. they are killer!

What are they contributing to the comp? Exclusive or pre recorded track?

Pre-recorded for now. If they can get an exclusive track by the time I need it. It will be thrown on. Drachnorian Hymms is gonna have a ton of shit out this year. But enough about me. Who are some of your favorites act in the Black Metal scene today?

Right now I've only been listening to the new Belphegor CD. They aren't exactly Black Metal but more of a Black/Death style. They are my favorite right now.

Well I'm out of questions. thanks for doing the interview. The floor is your Hail Satan brother!

Thanks for the interview. Check out the new CD "Triumph of Fire" for an all out blasphemous assault on christianity and it's mindless fools. For any info on the band check our webgrave out at www.kultovazazel.com or write to our PO Box. Hail Satan!