Earlier this year, I had the privilege to see Malevolent Creation and party with them. Outside their tour bus, I got to talk with Phil. So, I am thinking to myself, what could be cooler than this?Then I am introduced to Xaphan. Xaphan is the guitarist and vocalist for Kult ov Azazel. If you're into true American Black Metal that rivals anything Europe has to offer, then sign your name on the dotted line and sell your soul to the Kult ov Azazel. Interviewed by Nik, answered by Xaphan The opponents of Black Metal always say that Black Metal as a whole promotes hatred, decadence, and debauchery. What is your political or social message, if you have one? What do you think about NSBM? Christianity, Islam and Judaism promote the same values if one really thinks about it. We have no political or social message; our only message is nothing is true and everything permitted. One can read into that as one wishes. This band is an outlet for our ideology and the vessel which to spread it. As for NSBM, to each their own. For the most part I don't care for politics in metal but I find some bands of this genre to be good at creating their music. Azazel is referenced by many religions and many different names. How does your religious ideology influence your music? Being that I am a Satanist it influences more than anything our lyrics. As a kid, I was really into bands like KISS, and always into the theatrics like painting my face and dressing the part of a "rock star". What band made you break in to Mom's makeup kit and put on the war paint? Kiss was the first for me as well. In fourth grade I went to school as Paul Stanley with my guitar on Halloween. Ace Frehley was my favorite, being I am a guitarist and I must commend Gene for his demon design but at that age drawing a star design was much easier than Frehley or Gene's design. Either way it looked horrible, haha. When is your next release, "Destroying the Sacred" going to come out? I can't really give a concrete answer at this point. I am hoping to be in the studio by years end that way it gets an early 2009 release. This however is really up in the air. I have been working on the pre-production demo over the past coplue of weeks. Have a few more songs to lay guitars down for and lyrics and vocals to track. So it's really on me at this point I guess, the faster I get the demo done the sooner everyone can learn the songs and we can get the album recorded. Last summer, you went back to your original, 3 member format. What prompted that decision? Personally since the formation of this band I was always opposed to including another guitarist into the band. From past experiences it only causes turmoil and problems. Basically the decision came down to being unable to depend on a fourth person so I made the call to take the core of the band back to being 3 members and in future live performances we'll utilize session guys to double the guitars. I want to end this interview by saying I am a huge fan and wish you considered success.Any final words for your fans or enemies? To you and all the fans I say thanks for the support! Expect some demo tracks to emerge in the near future before the release of Destroying the Sacred. Check our website, www. kultovazazel. com or www. myspace. com/kultovazazel for future updates.