February 12th, 2010

From the Obsidian Throne- with Xaphan

by Isiamon of Immolith

In this second installment of From the Obsidian Throne, I contacted one of the true legends in the black metal scene for the last 11 years Xaphan of the mighty Kult ov Azazel. The time was right for Xaphan as he’s recently returned from Europe where he toured with Malevolent Creation as their sound engineer. I caught up with Xaphan as he was back in Florida planning live assaults around the US for Kult ov Azazel to support their most recent desecration, Destroying the Sacred.

Hails Xaphan, if you could enlighten our readers with a history of the Kult ov Azazel!

I formed the band with Xul in 1999 as Azazel. Under this name we released the Forever Heaven Gone demo and Order of the Fly mCD. Changed name to Kult ov Azazel in 2000 and released the full length “Triumph Of Fire”. In 2001 Hammer was added as drummer. Since 2001 we have released “Oculus Infernum”, “The World, The Flesh & The Devil” and “Destroying The Sacred”. We have also participated on split releases with Krieg, Vrolok, Horn of Valere, Satan’s Blood, Obitus, Thy Lord, Humanicide and this year one with Teratism.

Tell us about your latest ritual that you have unleashed on the masses, “Destroying the Sacred,” and the message behind it.

The album was tracked the last week of October and mixed and mastered the first week of November of 2008 at Mana Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida which is the same place we recorded “The World, The Flesh & The Devil”. It was produced by us and Brian Elliott who also engineered and mastered the album. The lyrics for the most part deal with the elimination of monotheistic religions, the ones that follow these religions and those that have led mankind to where it is today. Instead of writing about subjects covered on past albums the lyrics on the new album kind of taps into my personal feelings on religion; my vision on how this eradication should be done. Just read the lyrics. My disgust and hatred is very evident.

Many musicians write in different ways, I’m curious if you would take us through the process of the writing of a Kult ov Azazel hymn.

It always begins with a riff. From there I compose the other riffs to work around the first one. Then I get together with Hammer and we work on the arrangement. Once the music has been arranged I then write the lyrics. The writing of the lyrics kind of follows the same line as the music. Lyrics begin with a title and from there I write lyrics around the title using the music as my template.

The guitar tone you achieve on your records is pure black metal hell, can you detail to us what equipment you use live and in the studio to evoke this evil tone?

It is the same for both the studio and live. My signal chain is this: Jackson USA RR1 > Dunlop 535Q Wah > Boss TU-2 Tuner > Boss NS-2 Suppressor > Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (looped through the Suppressor) > Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier > (2) Marshall cabinets. That’s the same setup I have used since we began. The only difference is from 1999-2002 I used a Marshall JCM800 live and Dual Rectifier in the studio. Also since 2008 I have added the Wah pedal into my signal chain.

There have been some recent lineup changes announced for Kult ov Azazel. Who has left the band, and who is in.

Since Xul and I formed the band many people have come and gone yet for the past 8 years Xul, Hammer and I were the main components of the band. This past December Xul informed me he no longer had the time to focus on the band and he needed to take a hiatus. So I brought VJS back into the band as bassist and I will be handling all the vocals from now forward. We have also added Armanen to the lineup on guitar in January of this year. So the current lineup is Xaphan (vocals/guitar), Hammer (drums), Armanen (guitar) and VJS (bass).

I know now that you are currently in league with Back From the Dead Productions, the management company established by Frank Watkins of Obituary, (and more recently Gorgoroth as well). When did this take place and what are your expectations of having a legend in the death metal scene working for you now?

Yeah we hooked up with Frank last month. Overall the past 11 years it has just become more difficult for me since I have always managed the band. With Frank in the picture it will allow me to focus more on the music as opposed to doing that and manage the business side of things. Frank will be a very useful asset as I hope we will be to him. I am very glad to be working with him.

US Black Metal sometimes gets looked down on, or considered inferior. Do you have any thoughts on the US black metal scene or its perceptions at home or around the world?

To be honest I don’t even follow what is happening here black metal wise or anywhere else for that matter. I stopped paying attention to the scene a long, long time ago. Every now and then I check out new bands that someone may recommend to me but for the most part I don’t pay much attention.

Kult ov Azazel have released your black metal art on all variety of media, Vinyl and CD. I have a huge affinity for vinyl. Do you like to see your material released on one medium versus another?

We have released albums in both formats. I do not have a preference as both have positive and negative qualities.

You are currently signed to Arctic Music, how has it been working with this label?

Working with them has been a good experience. The only downfall has been they have had problems with securing good distribution until just recently. Other than that they have upheld their end of the contract and have been pleasant to work with.

Do you have a distaste as modern drum production as many veterans of the “old school” black and death metal community do?

Well since our drummer uses kick triggers and we use samples I guess one could say we have a more modern production. Being a professional sound engineer I must say I like triggers when used properly. Many have this misconception that triggers give kick drums an unnatural sound but if the kick triggers are eq’d just right most people would not know the difference between a microphone or trigger. Besides that when playing music which requires fast and constant double kick the trigger is more helpful than a microphone anyhow. You lose clarity, precision and attack whereas with a trigger you do not. With that said I only like when triggers are used on kick drums.

I know just a few months ago you were in Europe working for Malevolent Creation as their sound engineer, How long have you worked as a live sound engineer for them?

For the past 10 years I have been their touring FOH engineer.

Let our readers know about any upcoming releases, live rituals, and basically what the band will be up to in the near future.

Sometime within the year a split between us and Teratism will be released. We’ll also be releasing a DVD later in the year as well. Other than that this year will be spent taking our live assault on the road. Confirmed dates so far are March 12-14 starting out headlining West Texas Death Fest then hooking up with Teratism, Witchaven and Hatchet to headline the Nihilistic Terror Across Texas/The Ultimate Desecration Tour. Since Hammer is unable to do the Texas shows we’ll have Tony Laureano filling in on drums. Then March 27^th we are headlining the March Metal Massacre 5 Fest in Reading, PA with Blood Feast, Anal Cunt and others. On July 17^th we headline the main stage for the 20^th anniversary of the Michigan Deathfest. There are plans to do a 16 day tour afterwards with Wolven Ancestry. I want to try and do as many shows as possible this year. Anyone that is interested in booking us for shows or tours can contact triplesixbooking@gmail.com.

What are in the works for the next album that the band will record?

It will be titled Violators of the Covenant. That’s the only information I can offer at this time. I am still in the writing process. At this point I have three songs written and currently working on the fourth one.

National Socialist Black Metal is something that is out there, and many wrongly assume all Black Metal bands are political. Do you have anything to say about politics?

I have nothing to say other than fuck politics!