http://www.elitarianmusic.com/004.Interviews/kult%20ov%20azazel%20interview.htm
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http://www.metalmaniacs.com/2010/from-the-obsidian-throne-with-xaphan/
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“No gods, no masters, no idols, no saviors” reads the back of the booklet that accompanies the new album from Floridian black metalists, Kult ov Azazel. For those that aren’t in the know, those words and the rather ominous (and censored on these shores) cover that depicts the head of Jesus on a stick should give you a good idea of what these guys are about – unabashed blasphemy. Similar to their Norwegian brethren in Marduk and Dark Funeral, Kult ov Azazel comes from a menacing and devastating school of the blackened arts. Don’t delve into Destroying The Sacred and expect any atmospheric keyboards or ambient, forest born odes to pagan fantasies. This is as straightforward as it comes with non-stop blastbeats, buzzsaw guitars, and blood throated, demonic vocals. The downside of the relentless assault of blistering blackness is that the entire disc sort of blows by like a tornado - a gigantic, fiery, and bloodied tornado that doesn’t move a single inch from its initial path. That being said, this is a fairly written album by black metal standards with the speed addled often memorable riffs of guitarist/vocalist Xaphan taking center stage. No re-invention of the wheel here, but a damn solid album rounded out by a killer cover of Nuclear Assault’s “Hang The Pope.” 7/10 – Ryan Ogle
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http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com/2009/08/kult-ov-azazel-interview-with-xaphan.html
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When opening this CD one discovers a faux cover concealing the true cover art depicting a bloodied, beheaded Christ on a pike. Ah, Kult Ov Azazel must be at it again, confrontational and extreme to the core! Musically one would expect another wall-of-sound, blistering set of tracks solidifying the band’s rep as the nastiest and heaviest unit in the USBM scene. Somewhat surprisingly Kult Ov Azazel exceed these high expectations, creating a cacophony so effective that it not only puts their American competition to shame, but challenges the Norwegian and Swedish black metal elite. ‘Gutting Religious Heritage’ races along in speed metal fury akin to something off of Slayer’s underrated Show No Mercy, ‘Destroying The Sacred’ slows things down a tad invoking a palpable sense of dread and ‘Storming The Gates’, well, storms the gates. Elsewhere the Floridians fill out the balance of the record with their stock-in-trade, furious crescendos of Christ-hating black metal, Xaphan’s gargled vox acting as the final, impaling blow. Rating: 8 - Chris Tighe
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The kult is alive.
When covering American black metal, the press favors one-man outfits. Their personalities are striking, their music has crossover appeal and they depart from the traditional Norwegian paradigm. Still, a handful of American bands have slogged it out through the years. Notables include Absu, Averse Sefira and Kult ov Azazel. “Band” is the operative word here. The advantage these collectives have over lone wolves is power. Misanthropy is the currency; more people wield more of it.
Florida’s Kult ov Azazel are the most Scandinavian-sounding of the lot. The sound is Swedish, actually think Marduk or Dark Funeral. Their blast-beaten, tremolo-picked, vocally-scathed style hasn’t changed much in a decade. Production values, though, have fluctuated, carrying the band’s fortunes with them. Debut full-length Triumph of Fire sounded surprisingly decent. 2005’s The World, The Flesh & The Devil drowned in muck.
Mana Studios, which recorded The World redeems itself on Destroying The Sacred. The sound is tight and focused, exposing the band’s most coherent tunes to date. Drummer Hammer is on fire, sprinkling spicy cymbal accents and feverish fills over astonishing foot speed. Vocals, which were often overbearing before, sit comfortably in the mix. Guitars are alternately mournful and storming. There’s even a punky cover of Nuclear Assault’s “Hang The Pope.” For once, these are black metal tunes one can tell apart. They’re also blasphemously consistent, taking on Christians, Muslims and Judeans with equal malevolence. The song remains the same but it’s more relevant than ever. 7/10 – Cosmo Lee
Reply
Every once in a while comes an album with a sound made of thunder, image from the nefarious pits of hell and words comprised of wisdom unconventional and sovereign. Destroying The Sacred is that rare musical masterwork. With black metal as its mantra, Kult Ov Azazel has released an album that matches the glories of its brethren Marduk, Immortal and Dark Funeral from start to finish and makes no excuses for its American origin.
Track after track riddles one with Satanic speed, hefty heaviness and volumes that screech to the maximum. The band begins and ends on a high note of speed with a couple of songs, like the title track, slowing down, which in the case of this Kult implies crushing heaviness. The vocals are doubled up and the music processed for effect on occasion. The voice is screaming death. The musicians create as much power as anyone in the genre with a special nod going to the accuracy and blasting power of Hammer on drums. The odd man out is the unlisted closing cover version of Nuclear Assault’s Hang The Pope whose poetic title belies a punkish deviation away from metal purity to extreme punk realms.
The album’s cover artwork was censored in the land of the free and home of the brave. The impaled and beheaded character Jesus is now depicted inside the album’s booklet. With the events of September 11, 2001 having awakened a wider consciousness in the USA the band turns its bile not exclusively unto Christianity, but also to Islam and Judaism.
The penalty superlative bands pay for such power is alienation from the mainstream. Kult Ov Azazel will never be a popular band. For that they need our support and appreciation. 80/100 – Ali “The Metallian”
Reply
Floridian black metal beasts Kult Ov Azazel return after a four-year hiatus with “Destroying The Sacred”, released on the Arctic Music Group label, and their fifth full-length overall. Right off the bat, “Destroying The Sacred” is a bulldozer of an album that is exceptionally well played, well written, and, somewhat unusually, well produced.
Consisting mostly of balls out, fast black metal with a few moments of atmosphere and the odd melodic touch or two, particularly late in the album, “Destroying The Sacred” features plenty of fast riffing, blastbeats galore, rasps, and a noticeably loud bass. Combine the stellar musicianship with very catchy, well written songs spread out over nine tracks (ten, if
you count a fast cover of “Hang The Pope” to close the album) that blow by in just over thirty minutes, and Kult Ov Azazel should vault themselves well to the forefront of the USBM scene with “Destroying The Sacred”.
What strikes me the most about “Destroying The Sacred” is the ability of the band to retain a feeling of all out, black metal brutality while attaining a very clean, professional sound. Compare “Destroying The Sacred” to “Triumph Of Fire”, and the band’s progression in this regard is obvious. All the while, “Destroying The Sacred” is backed up with a huge, crisp production, and the album immediately becomes highly infectious. This one should give well established giants such as Marduk and Dark Funeral cause to look over their shoulders.
Although not the most original album that I’ve ever heard, “Destroying The Sacred” is so well done for the genre that I can’t help but begin to consider its inclusion in this year’s top ten list. Yep, buy or die! - Dave Schalek
Reply
JC's head on a stick. If the cover wasn't a clue.
Aggression doesn't even begin to describe the fury contained on "Destroying the Sacred." Unholy blasphemy spewed forth at the speed of light, in quick machine gun bursts. KOA's Xaphan and Xul write soaring black metal opuses that are bereft of lame pretensions and get straight to the point. Melodies are intricately woven into the storm of blastbeats illustrating a songwriting depth absent from most of their blackmetal counterparts. Christianity, weakness and the herd mentality are the primary targets of their rage filled anthems.
My favorite tracks are the album opener 'Nocturnal Blasphemy', 'Conquer and Decimate' and the title track, 'Destroying the Sacred.'
This is an excellent addition to their already stellar discography. One of the best USBM outfits, period. I can't understand why they are often overlooked.
For fans of Teratism, Nightbringer, Judas Iscariot, Krieg, Marduk and Leviathan. - Alan Willey
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Kult ov Azazel has always been a favorite of mine since the band's inception in the mid-nineties, back in their demo days. This latest recording of the Tampa, Florida based band, has got to be one of the most noticeable recordings in black metal to date. Xaphan and Xul have always had an interesting chemistry together. Some of the more noticeable songs would have to be tracks 3 and 7 properly titled "Ancient Evil" and the title track "Destroying the Sacred" in which they truely did with their interesting use of dynamics that were brought upon by the guitars in which Xaphan explores with his flanger and reverse recording effects. It's very wickedly put together and it is very recognizable. Drummer Hammer brings some new tempos in which equally shares with the guitars experimental aspects and isn't afraid to show it. Overall I like the quickness of the songs, the titles, the effects, and the vocals are always a blast to enjoy. Xul speaks of a most blasphemic act against the church and that's properly titled "Hang the Pope", a nice 43 second bonus track that we are given and are free to chant along "Hang the Pope"!!! Hell yeah!!! Overall powerful 8.5 - Luis Carlos
Reply
Kult ov Azazel / Blog
Elitarian Music Interview w/ Xaphan
http://www.elitarianmusic.com/004.Interviews/kult%20ov%20azazel%20interview.htm
Reply
Metal Maniacs Interview w/ Xaphan
http://www.metalmaniacs.com/2010/from-the-obsidian-throne-with-xaphan/
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Destroying The Sacred - Outburn Magazine Review
“No gods, no masters, no idols, no saviors” reads the back of the booklet that accompanies the new album from Floridian black metalists, Kult ov Azazel. For those that aren’t in the know, those words and the rather ominous (and censored on these shores) cover that depicts the head of Jesus on a stick should give you a good idea of what these guys are about – unabashed blasphemy. Similar to their Norwegian brethren in Marduk and Dark Funeral, Kult ov Azazel comes from a menacing and devastating school of the blackened arts. Don’t delve into Destroying The Sacred and expect any atmospheric keyboards or ambient, forest born odes to pagan fantasies. This is as straightforward as it comes with non-stop blastbeats, buzzsaw guitars, and blood throated, demonic vocals. The downside of the relentless assault of blistering blackness is that the entire disc sort of blows by like a tornado - a gigantic, fiery, and bloodied tornado that doesn’t move a single inch from its initial path. That being said, this is a fairly written album by black metal standards with the speed addled often memorable riffs of guitarist/vocalist Xaphan taking center stage. No re-invention of the wheel here, but a damn solid album rounded out by a killer cover of Nuclear Assault’s “Hang The Pope.” 7/10 – Ryan Ogle
Reply
Metal Flows In My Veins Interview w/ Xaphan
http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com/2009/08/kult-ov-azazel-interview-with-xaphan.html
Reply
Destroying The Sacred - Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles Magazine Review
When opening this CD one discovers a faux cover concealing the true cover art depicting a bloodied, beheaded Christ on a pike. Ah, Kult Ov Azazel must be at it again, confrontational and extreme to the core! Musically one would expect another wall-of-sound, blistering set of tracks solidifying the band’s rep as the nastiest and heaviest unit in the USBM scene. Somewhat surprisingly Kult Ov Azazel exceed these high expectations, creating a cacophony so effective that it not only puts their American competition to shame, but challenges the Norwegian and Swedish black metal elite. ‘Gutting Religious Heritage’ races along in speed metal fury akin to something off of Slayer’s underrated Show No Mercy, ‘Destroying The Sacred’ slows things down a tad invoking a palpable sense of dread and ‘Storming The Gates’, well, storms the gates. Elsewhere the Floridians fill out the balance of the record with their stock-in-trade, furious crescendos of Christ-hating black metal, Xaphan’s gargled vox acting as the final, impaling blow. Rating: 8 - Chris Tighe
Reply
Destroying The Sacred - Decibel Magazine Review
The kult is alive. When covering American black metal, the press favors one-man outfits. Their personalities are striking, their music has crossover appeal and they depart from the traditional Norwegian paradigm. Still, a handful of American bands have slogged it out through the years. Notables include Absu, Averse Sefira and Kult ov Azazel. “Band” is the operative word here. The advantage these collectives have over lone wolves is power. Misanthropy is the currency; more people wield more of it. Florida’s Kult ov Azazel are the most Scandinavian-sounding of the lot. The sound is Swedish, actually think Marduk or Dark Funeral. Their blast-beaten, tremolo-picked, vocally-scathed style hasn’t changed much in a decade. Production values, though, have fluctuated, carrying the band’s fortunes with them. Debut full-length Triumph of Fire sounded surprisingly decent. 2005’s The World, The Flesh & The Devil drowned in muck. Mana Studios, which recorded The World redeems itself on Destroying The Sacred. The sound is tight and focused, exposing the band’s most coherent tunes to date. Drummer Hammer is on fire, sprinkling spicy cymbal accents and feverish fills over astonishing foot speed. Vocals, which were often overbearing before, sit comfortably in the mix. Guitars are alternately mournful and storming. There’s even a punky cover of Nuclear Assault’s “Hang The Pope.” For once, these are black metal tunes one can tell apart. They’re also blasphemously consistent, taking on Christians, Muslims and Judeans with equal malevolence. The song remains the same but it’s more relevant than ever. 7/10 – Cosmo Lee
Reply
Destroying The Sacred - Metallian Review
Every once in a while comes an album with a sound made of thunder, image from the nefarious pits of hell and words comprised of wisdom unconventional and sovereign. Destroying The Sacred is that rare musical masterwork. With black metal as its mantra, Kult Ov Azazel has released an album that matches the glories of its brethren Marduk, Immortal and Dark Funeral from start to finish and makes no excuses for its American origin. Track after track riddles one with Satanic speed, hefty heaviness and volumes that screech to the maximum. The band begins and ends on a high note of speed with a couple of songs, like the title track, slowing down, which in the case of this Kult implies crushing heaviness. The vocals are doubled up and the music processed for effect on occasion. The voice is screaming death. The musicians create as much power as anyone in the genre with a special nod going to the accuracy and blasting power of Hammer on drums. The odd man out is the unlisted closing cover version of Nuclear Assault’s Hang The Pope whose poetic title belies a punkish deviation away from metal purity to extreme punk realms. The album’s cover artwork was censored in the land of the free and home of the brave. The impaled and beheaded character Jesus is now depicted inside the album’s booklet. With the events of September 11, 2001 having awakened a wider consciousness in the USA the band turns its bile not exclusively unto Christianity, but also to Islam and Judaism. The penalty superlative bands pay for such power is alienation from the mainstream. Kult Ov Azazel will never be a popular band. For that they need our support and appreciation. 80/100 – Ali “The Metallian”
Reply
Destroying The Sacred - Live 4 Metal Review
Floridian black metal beasts Kult Ov Azazel return after a four-year hiatus with “Destroying The Sacred”, released on the Arctic Music Group label, and their fifth full-length overall. Right off the bat, “Destroying The Sacred” is a bulldozer of an album that is exceptionally well played, well written, and, somewhat unusually, well produced. Consisting mostly of balls out, fast black metal with a few moments of atmosphere and the odd melodic touch or two, particularly late in the album, “Destroying The Sacred” features plenty of fast riffing, blastbeats galore, rasps, and a noticeably loud bass. Combine the stellar musicianship with very catchy, well written songs spread out over nine tracks (ten, if you count a fast cover of “Hang The Pope” to close the album) that blow by in just over thirty minutes, and Kult Ov Azazel should vault themselves well to the forefront of the USBM scene with “Destroying The Sacred”. What strikes me the most about “Destroying The Sacred” is the ability of the band to retain a feeling of all out, black metal brutality while attaining a very clean, professional sound. Compare “Destroying The Sacred” to “Triumph Of Fire”, and the band’s progression in this regard is obvious. All the while, “Destroying The Sacred” is backed up with a huge, crisp production, and the album immediately becomes highly infectious. This one should give well established giants such as Marduk and Dark Funeral cause to look over their shoulders. Although not the most original album that I’ve ever heard, “Destroying The Sacred” is so well done for the genre that I can’t help but begin to consider its inclusion in this year’s top ten list. Yep, buy or die! - Dave Schalek
Reply
Destroying The Sacred - Death Is A Doorway Review
JC's head on a stick. If the cover wasn't a clue. Aggression doesn't even begin to describe the fury contained on "Destroying the Sacred." Unholy blasphemy spewed forth at the speed of light, in quick machine gun bursts. KOA's Xaphan and Xul write soaring black metal opuses that are bereft of lame pretensions and get straight to the point. Melodies are intricately woven into the storm of blastbeats illustrating a songwriting depth absent from most of their blackmetal counterparts. Christianity, weakness and the herd mentality are the primary targets of their rage filled anthems. My favorite tracks are the album opener 'Nocturnal Blasphemy', 'Conquer and Decimate' and the title track, 'Destroying the Sacred.' This is an excellent addition to their already stellar discography. One of the best USBM outfits, period. I can't understand why they are often overlooked. For fans of Teratism, Nightbringer, Judas Iscariot, Krieg, Marduk and Leviathan. - Alan Willey
Reply
Destroying The Sacred - The Adversary Review
Kult ov Azazel has always been a favorite of mine since the band's inception in the mid-nineties, back in their demo days. This latest recording of the Tampa, Florida based band, has got to be one of the most noticeable recordings in black metal to date. Xaphan and Xul have always had an interesting chemistry together. Some of the more noticeable songs would have to be tracks 3 and 7 properly titled "Ancient Evil" and the title track "Destroying the Sacred" in which they truely did with their interesting use of dynamics that were brought upon by the guitars in which Xaphan explores with his flanger and reverse recording effects. It's very wickedly put together and it is very recognizable. Drummer Hammer brings some new tempos in which equally shares with the guitars experimental aspects and isn't afraid to show it. Overall I like the quickness of the songs, the titles, the effects, and the vocals are always a blast to enjoy. Xul speaks of a most blasphemic act against the church and that's properly titled "Hang the Pope", a nice 43 second bonus track that we are given and are free to chant along "Hang the Pope"!!! Hell yeah!!! Overall powerful 8.5 - Luis Carlos
Reply