| Azaghal was formed in '95
by |
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| Narqath
and Kalma under the name Belfegor. One demo was released under
this name ("Ancient Gods of Evil"). In '97 the band changed
the name to Azaghal and that's when they recorded their first
"real" demo, simply called "Reh.Demo". The next demo was released
in March '98 called "Noituuden Torni" ("The Tower of Witchery").
That demo showed different sides of Azaghal, introducing synths
and more melodies to the music for the first time. And for the
last. In December '98 the third
demo |
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| "KristinuskoLiekeissä"("Christianity
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| in Flames")
was released and it was again more in thevein of the first demo,being
just pure aggressive traditional black metal performed for His
glory.Then Azaghal signed to Aftermath Music from Norway for
a 7" which was released in February '99. The EP was called "Harmagedon".
Azaghal has also signed with Melancholy Promotions for Hellas
for a 12", full-length vinyl. The album is called "Mustamaa"
("Mordor") and is limited to 300 copies. Even rawer than the
EP, it features the most primitive material and production yet.
Also a tape version of this album is out on At War Records from
Germany. Currently, Azaghal has signed with the Kult label Evil
Horde of Brasil. The debut CD is again a step towards the direction
of the EP, being a lot faster than the 12" was. Death to Humanity!
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| 2. You are also playing in Thoronath
and Svartalfheim and maybe even other bands that I haven't heard
about, but taking in account that you have just released your
debut album with Azaghal I presume that Azaghal is the real
band and the rest just projects. Is it so? And obviously why
do you need to play in so many bands? Tell us briefly about
the activity of all your bands! |
| Azaghal and
Hin Onde (ex-Svartalfheim) are the real bands, all the rest
I have been / am involved in are "just" projects. I don't want
to talk too much about them, as I don't think they need any
advertisement. I am (or I was) involved in many projects because
I'm very creative and I used to have lots of free time the last
couple of years of which I spent most on writing music and drinking.But
nowadays I don't have that much
time to concentrate on any extra |
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projects and
I rather spend
the little |
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freetime
I have on Azaghal and Hin Onde... But here's a little
more info on Hin Onde and Oath of Cirion in which I'm
also involved in: Hin Onde is a folklore / pagan metal
band formed in '95 and the name has changed couple of
times during the years.We have released 2 demos ("Well
of the Highest Knowledge" and "Ahti's Depths") + a 7"
called "Fiery September Fire".. We will record our debut
CD during |
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the summer most likely..The
line-up of Hin |
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| Onde is: T.
Kalliola - Vocals, guitars, synths M. Virkki - Synths, Vocals
V. Pallonen - Drums Oath of Cirion is more a project of Azaghal/Hin
Onde drummer V. Pallonen, I handle the guitars and vocals, but
he writes all the music.. The music is majestic fantasy metal
in the vein of Bal-Sagoth, Thyrfing etc. We have released one
demo called "King of the Dragonthrone" which has received a
very very good feedback. |
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3. Azaghal - I suspect this name
being connected with Tolkien, is it so? Did the works of Tolkien
mean anything to you? Are they reflected in any way in your
lyrics?
Personally I like Tolkien and other fantasy
literature, but Azaghal has no other connection to Tolkien except
the name. |
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4. So you are playing in Finnish.
I see that almost all the new black metal bands in Finland use
their native language, could you tell me the reason for that?
I don't mean to offend you but the Finnish language seems so
strange, I can't even spell the words correctly! Beside it's
always that thing that the lyrics can very often end up sounding
pathetic when they're written in the native language.
I don't really know why so many finnish
bands sing in finnish.. We use the finnish language mainly because
our vocalist Varjoherra wants to sing in finnish instead of
english, but in the future we intend to use atleast partly english,
as I do prefer writing lyrics in english. There will always
be english translations of our lyrics with every release so
people should have no problem with them. |
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| 5. So you seem to be very active,
you released one rehearsal, two demos, a demoCD, a 7EP, an LP
and a CD. Personally I get lost in all your releases, and I
don't really know if this recently released album by Evil Horde
Rec., "Nine Circles of Hell" is really your debut or your second
album. Please lighten this matter and present briefly each release
of yours noting the musical evolution from one to another. |
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Azaghal discography:
Reh.Demo '97 - Recorded live
with a four-tracker... Primitive black metal with obviously
very primitive production.. Still I think this was an okay
release. Noituuden Torni -demo '98 - Recorded in early '98
on digital 8-tracker... iIt features mostly the same songs
as the "reh-demo", but with synths included... To tell you
the truth this demo is a piece of shit hah. I prefer the versions
from the "reh-demo" over these anyday. Many people have a
totally wrong picture of Azaghal because of this release I
think.
Kristinusko Liekeissä -demo '98 - Recorded in September '98..
On this release Azaghal found it's own style so to speak..
I'm still satisfied with this demo, black terror metal with
a very fitting raw production. This was also released as a
very very limited demo CD.
Harmagedon '7" '99 (Aftermath Music) - This EP was recorded
in the same session as the "Kristinusko" demo and was release
in early '99 by Norweigian Aftermath Music. The material is
in the same vein as on the last demo, pure black terror metal.
Mustamaa '12" '99 (Melancholy Promotions) - This is our debut
album, but released originally only as a limited 300 vinyl
+ tape. There will come a limited (1000copies) CD re-release
of this album later this year on Nocturnal Music. This LP
features our most primitive stuff since the "Reh-demo" days.
I'm still satisfied with this material too, altough it's a
bit different from our newer stuff.
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| Helvetin Yhdeksän
Piiriä 'CD '99 (Evil Horde Records) -Our debut CD (second
album) .. This features our
fastest and most brutal |
| material yet..
I'm still quite satisfied with this |
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material
too, altough we should have thought twice before triggering
the drums, since I think the sound is perhaps too clear
in places but in the end it's no big deal.
Black Terror Metal 'split CD '00(w/ Mustan Kuun Lapset)
(Nocturnal Music) - Our newest |
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| and best
material I think.. More varying and |
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techincal than
the stuff on "Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä". This split CD features
5 new songs from us and will be out in April 2000 as limited
edition (3000) CD. This is kind of a introduction to the new
Azaghal material.. There will be no dramatic changes in style,
but the new stuff is just a bit different.. These songs really
didn't fit with the material we had ready for the next full-lengh,
but still we thought that these were excelent songs so we decided
to do a "compromise" and release them as a split CD.
At the moment we are writing and reheasing material for our
third full-lenght (working title "Of Beasts and Vultures")..
As I just said, the material is a bit different... I hate to
use the term "more mature" but that's the best I can come up
with at the moment. I know every band says this, but the new
material is just simply better in everyway: faster, yet more
technical, more brutal yet more melodic etc. |
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| 6. Obviously I have to ask you why
have you decided to sign for a Brazilian label, naturally all
the European bands get signed to European labels of course.
The reaction on the album was more than positive, have you got
offers from other labels or you will stay with them in the future
too? |
| We signed with
Evil Horde because they made a very good offer and they had
a good reputation and I respected Murder Rape as a band. Yes,
the reactions on "Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä" have been very positive
and we have received some very interesting offers from well
known european labels (I don't want to mention any names yet
atleast) with offers for european tours etc... But at the moment
we are under contract with Evil Horde for one more full-lenght
and we are happy with them so nothing more about this subject
now, it's too early to say what we will do after the next album.
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7. So, what are you expecting from
"Nine Circles of Hell" ? And what can you tell us about the
future of the band?
The album has done already better (atleast
in terms of reviews etc.) than I expected and the sales seem
to go ok too. About our future I already mentioned the forth-coming
split CD + the CD re-release of our debut "Mustamaa". There
has also been talks with Millenium Metal about re-releasing
also some demo/reh material as a limited CD but that is yet
uncertain. |
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| 8. Knowing how crude and evil your
music is and seeing your band photos with that entire battle
arsenal (spikes, bullets,warpaints etc,) I wonder how do you
present yourselves live! Do you use fake blood, puking fire,
macabre scenarios, devastaion of instruments like Gorgoroth
or Dark Funeral does? Did you ever had problems
with |
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injured fans,
christian boycots, censorship, |
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police
etc.?
Well we haven't played a single show yet so not much gig
stories to tell..We intend to start playing live in the
future however but I really can't tell much about the
show yet... If you include much theatrical elements to
it there is always the risk of just making an total ass
out of yerself. So atleast in the start we'll just stick
with the usual cow's blood, fire breathing etc. |
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9. On the other hand, is your social
life that intense or you are rather normal, quiet, average people?
I'm a very misanthropic person, I avoid contact with people
as much as possible really... Most of humans are just so unbeliavbly
stupid and annoying with their stupid little problems that I
have found it better to just stay away from them.. But nothing
more about my personal life, it has nothing to do with Azaghal
really. |
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10. There many from Scandinavia which
say that the very cold climate there goes hand in hand with
black metal and that's why there are so many bands. Do you think
that the climate has a certain effect on the mentality of the
Scandinavians? What do you think about this?
Oh it most certainly has.. With the summer
only being like 2 months long and winter about 8 it's impossible
for it not to affect your state of mind, living in darkness
most of the time.. |
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11. I don't understand your lyrics,
but at least the artworks (previous to "The Nine Circles of
Hell") of Azaghal suggest that they are pretty much related
to nature, paganism probably seeking a return to the ancient
times. I hope I haven't philosophized too much! What do you
think about new wave of scientist which say (and actually bring
proofs in this respect) that the progress of life on earth is
related with aliens which visited earth several times aeons
ago? Do you think that this rather "exotic" interpretation (which
I say again is plausible enough) can damage the fame of the
ancient pagan times that most of the nowadays black metal bands
inspire from?
I can't speak on behalf of Azaghal here,
but personally I think this is pretty interesting theory.. And
if they can prove it what can one say against it? Like I said
in previous answer, I think most of humans are so fucking stupid
that I wouldn't wonder this at all hahaa. |
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12. So I end here, the last words
belong to you!
Thanks for the intie & sorry for the dull
answers. "This ain't about sons nor servants, This is my own
surreal terror, My profound Deviltry, Unchained Demonic Energy!"
contact: AZAGHAL
Kaskentie 3 as.1 05840 Hyvinkää FINLAND
http://www.azaghal.cjb.net |
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