Kult ov Azazel
Encyclopedia
Kult ov Azazel is an American black metal
band, briefly known as Azazel.
, and the band changed their name to the current moniker, Kult ov Azazel. That same month, they released a promo, entitled "Of Evil and Hatred". They were signed by Arctic Music shortly thereafter.
Hellspawn faded from the band, and Vetis had become their live drummer. The band then set to record, at this time without a drummer, "Triumph of Fire", their first LP. Later in 2001, the band incorporated a permanent drummer, Hammer, and a second guitarist, Nocturath, into their line-up. With this lineup they released "Oculus Infernum" but Nocturath would soon be replaced by VJS whom first appeared with the group in 2004 when they co-headlined the Northern Lights Festival in Toronto, Canada. November of the same year, Kult ov Azazel embarked on The Swarm of Eternal Blackness Tour, a successful West Coast tour and recorded the tracks for the two splits “Feast of Sacrilegious Impurity” and “Through War or Suicide”.
In February 2005 the band entered Mana Studios in Tampa Florida and recorded “The World, The Flesh & The Devil” and again booked and completed a successful East Coast tour. In 2006, VJS was replaced by Necrol. As this lineup Kult ov Azazel appeared in 2006 at the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child 6 Festival, Night of the Black Pentecost and one Ft. Lauderdale, FL show securing the only opening slot for the Celtic Frost
"Monotheist" tour.
On September 15, 2007 Kult ov Azazel returned to headline a show in Toronto, Canada and a week later was scheduled to play the Autumn Equinox Festival. Situations arose preventing Xul and Hammer from playing the festival. Instead of cancelling, Xaphan performed with session musicians. This one time lineup included members of Krieg, Engorge, Tenebrous & Malevolent Creation. It was this festival Valac entered the band replacing Necrol as session guitarist.
During the beginning of 2008, a decision was made to take Kult ov Azazel back to its original form keeping the core of the band a 3 piece and utilizing session members for live occasions. Writing for the new album was finalized and in late October 2008 the band entered Mana Studios again to record "Destroying The Sacred". Released June 2, 2009 through Arctic Music the album, as with past releases, has received excellent reviews from both the US magazines/zines as well as international ones.
Support for the album kicked off on July 5, 2009 in Philadelphia, PA when Kult ov Azazel co-headlined the Hostile City Death Festival with Valac as session guitarist. The when rehearsing for upcoming shows in October 2009 Kult ov Azazel brought Armanen in to cover guitars for live performances. That same month the band headlined the Milwaukee Blackened Festival and one one off show in Los Angeles, CA on Halloween night. While in Los Angeles Xaphan and Hammer entered Black Static Studios and within a few hours banged out a cover of In League With Satan for a Venom tribute to be released as a split endeavor with Teratism. December 12, 2009 Kult ov Azazel took their blasphemy to the island of Puerto Rico. With this performance the band also made history by being the first national/international black metal to play Puerto Rico. This was filmed to be compiled with other live footage for a future DVD release in 2010.
At the beginning of 2010 the band was hit with Xul’s decision to take an indefinite hiatus. With scheduled dates for 2010 already confirmed Xaphan and Hammer were forced to make the decision to make adjustments to the lineup. Armanen was given a permanent position on guitars and former/session member VJS was brought back to play bass. With this lineup Kult ov Azazel embarked on a mini tour billed as the Nihilistic Terror Across Texas headlining the West Texas Death Festival and then joining up for two shows with Teratism and Witchaven. Due to certain circumstances Hammer was unable to do the Texas tour so Tony Laureano filled in on drums. Then in May they completed the Nihilistic Terror Across Florida mini tour, having filmed their hometown show for a future DVD release. However, after the Florida shows complications arouse that put the band on complete hold from the month of June until October when the band began rehearsing as a 3 piece with Armanen on bass for their appearance at the Samhain Black Metal Festival MMX in South Carolina. After this festival appearance the band began writing for a new album but again that was put on hold due the contract with Arctic being up and no label interest.
Fast forward, February 2011 at which time Negativity Records approached the band with interest to release future recordings. With this new offer the flame had been lit again. Since the beginning of March Xaphan has resumed writing with contributions from Armanen, who as of May 2011 has moved to bass guitar and Necrol has come back to fill the guitar position. In August the band plans to spend a week doing pre-production for Violators of the Covenant and hopefully have it recorded and released in the early months of 2012.
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band, briefly known as Azazel.
History
Formed by Xaphan and Xul in 1999, under the name of Azazel, the band released a promo entitled "Forever Heaven Gone" and a MCD entitled "Order of the Fly". Azazel then began to play shows in the state of Florida. After their original drummer was kicked out of the band, Azazel rotated drummers, eventually settling on a drummer known as Hellspawn. In 2000, a split CD was recorded with fellow black metal band KriegKrieg
Krieg is a black metal band from Somers Point, New Jersey in the United States of America. They play a low-fi, "raw" style, drawing influence from the Darkthrone-esque style of black metal and did not use synthesizers or folk instruments, in their recordings. The band formed in 1995, initially as...
, and the band changed their name to the current moniker, Kult ov Azazel. That same month, they released a promo, entitled "Of Evil and Hatred". They were signed by Arctic Music shortly thereafter.
Hellspawn faded from the band, and Vetis had become their live drummer. The band then set to record, at this time without a drummer, "Triumph of Fire", their first LP. Later in 2001, the band incorporated a permanent drummer, Hammer, and a second guitarist, Nocturath, into their line-up. With this lineup they released "Oculus Infernum" but Nocturath would soon be replaced by VJS whom first appeared with the group in 2004 when they co-headlined the Northern Lights Festival in Toronto, Canada. November of the same year, Kult ov Azazel embarked on The Swarm of Eternal Blackness Tour, a successful West Coast tour and recorded the tracks for the two splits “Feast of Sacrilegious Impurity” and “Through War or Suicide”.
In February 2005 the band entered Mana Studios in Tampa Florida and recorded “The World, The Flesh & The Devil” and again booked and completed a successful East Coast tour. In 2006, VJS was replaced by Necrol. As this lineup Kult ov Azazel appeared in 2006 at the Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child 6 Festival, Night of the Black Pentecost and one Ft. Lauderdale, FL show securing the only opening slot for the Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost was a metal band from Zürich, Switzerland. They are known for their heavy influence on the extreme metal genres. The group was first active from 1984 to 1993, and re-formed in 2001. Following Tom Gabriel Fischer's departure in 2008, Celtic Frost decided to break up again...
"Monotheist" tour.
On September 15, 2007 Kult ov Azazel returned to headline a show in Toronto, Canada and a week later was scheduled to play the Autumn Equinox Festival. Situations arose preventing Xul and Hammer from playing the festival. Instead of cancelling, Xaphan performed with session musicians. This one time lineup included members of Krieg, Engorge, Tenebrous & Malevolent Creation. It was this festival Valac entered the band replacing Necrol as session guitarist.
During the beginning of 2008, a decision was made to take Kult ov Azazel back to its original form keeping the core of the band a 3 piece and utilizing session members for live occasions. Writing for the new album was finalized and in late October 2008 the band entered Mana Studios again to record "Destroying The Sacred". Released June 2, 2009 through Arctic Music the album, as with past releases, has received excellent reviews from both the US magazines/zines as well as international ones.
Support for the album kicked off on July 5, 2009 in Philadelphia, PA when Kult ov Azazel co-headlined the Hostile City Death Festival with Valac as session guitarist. The when rehearsing for upcoming shows in October 2009 Kult ov Azazel brought Armanen in to cover guitars for live performances. That same month the band headlined the Milwaukee Blackened Festival and one one off show in Los Angeles, CA on Halloween night. While in Los Angeles Xaphan and Hammer entered Black Static Studios and within a few hours banged out a cover of In League With Satan for a Venom tribute to be released as a split endeavor with Teratism. December 12, 2009 Kult ov Azazel took their blasphemy to the island of Puerto Rico. With this performance the band also made history by being the first national/international black metal to play Puerto Rico. This was filmed to be compiled with other live footage for a future DVD release in 2010.
At the beginning of 2010 the band was hit with Xul’s decision to take an indefinite hiatus. With scheduled dates for 2010 already confirmed Xaphan and Hammer were forced to make the decision to make adjustments to the lineup. Armanen was given a permanent position on guitars and former/session member VJS was brought back to play bass. With this lineup Kult ov Azazel embarked on a mini tour billed as the Nihilistic Terror Across Texas headlining the West Texas Death Festival and then joining up for two shows with Teratism and Witchaven. Due to certain circumstances Hammer was unable to do the Texas tour so Tony Laureano filled in on drums. Then in May they completed the Nihilistic Terror Across Florida mini tour, having filmed their hometown show for a future DVD release. However, after the Florida shows complications arouse that put the band on complete hold from the month of June until October when the band began rehearsing as a 3 piece with Armanen on bass for their appearance at the Samhain Black Metal Festival MMX in South Carolina. After this festival appearance the band began writing for a new album but again that was put on hold due the contract with Arctic being up and no label interest.
Fast forward, February 2011 at which time Negativity Records approached the band with interest to release future recordings. With this new offer the flame had been lit again. Since the beginning of March Xaphan has resumed writing with contributions from Armanen, who as of May 2011 has moved to bass guitar and Necrol has come back to fill the guitar position. In August the band plans to spend a week doing pre-production for Violators of the Covenant and hopefully have it recorded and released in the early months of 2012.
Current members
- Xaphan - Guitar, Vocals (1999–Present)
- Armanen - Guitar (2009–Present)
- VJS - Bass (2010–Present)
- Hammer - Drums (2001–Present)
Former Members
- Xul - Bass, Vocals (1999–2009)
- Nocturath (Open Grave, Helcaraxë, Minas Tirith) - Guitar (2002–2003)
- Hellspawn - Drums (1999–2000)
- Von - Drums (1999)
Past Live Session members
- Tony Laureano (Angelcorpse/Nile/Dimmu Borgir/1349/Acheron/Brujeria/God Dethroned/Belphegor/Nachtmystium/Insidious Disease) - Drums (2010, Nihilistic Terror Across Texas Tour)
- Valac (Malevolent Creation/Divine Empire/Against the Plagues) - Guitar (2007–2009)
- VJS (Demoncy/Incursus/Tenebrous/Goreaphobia/Crimson Moon/Nightbringer) - Guitar (2004–2005), Drums (2009, Hostile City Death Festival), Drums (2007, Autumn Equinox Festival)
- Imperial (Krieg) - Vocals (2007, Autumn Equinox Festival)
- MCoken (Engorge) - Bass (2007, Autumn Equinox Festival)
- Necrol (Secrets She Kept) - Guitar (2006–2007)
- Vetis (Sickness/Malevolent Creation) - Drums (2000–2001), Drums (2010, March Metal Massacre V)
LPs
- Triumph of Fire (2001 / vinyl 2002)
- Order of the Fly (Re-issued, mCD 2000 / vinyl 2003)
- Assaulting the Masses (Live album, 2003)
- Oculus Infernum (2003)
- Black Mass Consecration (Compilation, 2004)
- The World, The Flesh, & The Devil (2005 / vinyl 2006)
- Destroying The Sacred (2009)
Demos, EPs, and Splits
- Forever Heaven Gone (1999, as Azazel)
- Order of the Fly (1999, as Azazel)
- Of Evil and Hatred (2000)
- Gather Against Humanity (Split w/ Obitus, Humanicide, and ThyLord, 2001)
- Kult Ov Azazel/Krieg (Split w/ Krieg, 2001)
- Satan's Blood/Kult ov Azazel (Split EP w/ Satan's Blood, 2003)
- Grandaevus Dæmonum (2003)
- Through War or Suicide (Split w/ Horn of Valere, 2005)
- Feast of Sacrilegious Impurity (Split w/ Vrolok, 2006)
- In League With Satan (Split w/ Teratism, 2010)
Compilations
- American Black Metal Assault (Infinite Darkness Records, 2000)
- Visionaries of the Macarbe Volume 2: An Evil Elite (Lost Disciple Records,2000)
- Casting Eternal Fires Volume 1 (Spectral Arts Productions, 2002)
- Jesus Wept/Black Arts #1 (Black Arts Productions, 2002)
- Jesus Wept/Black Arts #2 (Black Arts Productions, 2003)
- Thanatos Volume 1: Between The Bloodstained Lines of Time (Lookinglassblack, 2003)
- Destroyers From The Western Skies (As Night Devours The Sun) (Killzone Records, 2005)