Azaghal is a young finnish band in the black metal scene. They have so far released 2 demos and a 7" through (hey, I know this label!) Aftermath Music. Just for giving you a taste of the views of this band, Lord Trondheim had an interview with Narqath:
1) Greetings. How's it going up there in Finland these days?
Could you please start out with a short conclusion of the history
of Azaghal ?
Everything is going pretty fine now that my military service ended hehehe.. (damn it was long). (Well, I counted 4 days... Lord Trondheim)
The band was started in late '95 under the name Belfegor, which featured
Kalma and Narqath. Then there was some line-up changes and people in and
out of the band, before the steady line-up with Kalma, Varjoherra and me,
Narqath became Azaghal. We have so far released 2 demos, and are about
to release our first 7" through Aftermath Music now in January'99.
2) Your new 7" "Harmagedon" shows a bit different edge of Azaghal
than before. How would you describe your music now compared to what
it was before? Any thoughts about future material of Azaghal?
I don't think it's very different to our older stuff, well perhaps it's a bit rawer and more aggressive than our first studio demo "Noituuden Torni" but that's mainly because we didn't use any synths this time. Our second demo "Kristinusko Liekeiss " is very much in the same vein as the 7",as it was recorded in the same session as the songs for the 7".
About new material: We will actually enter the studio again in a week or so (in late January) to record some new tracks that we will use as promo that we will then send to labels. The new songs are even more aggressive, though there is synths added again (but used in a different way than on "noituuden torni" where the synths were far too dominant, this time we will only use synths in the background). The new songs are more in the vein of the track "Harmagedon" from the 7", fast, hateful but catchy. Couple of tracks are really long and epic (about 10 minutes long) which is a new side to Azaghal. Well, then there is also more "old-style" riffing (but still we are definetly NOT a retro-thrash, black thrash or whatever band, but a BLACK METAL band). The new material is just simply better in every way, although I'm of course quite satisfied with the 7" and the second demo, otherwise they would not have been released.
3) From what sources do you gather the inspiration for Azaghal?
Lyrically from different books (Dante's "Inferno" has been a big inspiration for me, many lyrics have been born inspired by that book), end of the world/armageddon are also subjects which I like to write about (two of the EP's songs are about armageddon, "Harmagedon" and "kun Aurinko Kuoli" ("When the Sun Died")). And of course hate against Christianity/Satanism is the main theme of Azaghal's lyrics as that is why this band was formed: To fight and Christianity!
Musically we are inspired by very much the same things as lyrically: darkness and hate. Of course older bands of the genre are a big influence too, like to every other younger bm-band.
4) You seem to be a rather effective band, with new recordings just about always. How is it you are so effective with new material?
We'll we rehearse regulary (about 2-3 times a week) so we play a lot and that's why new material comes up a lot too, which is of course great. Well actually the material on the EP and on the second demo is quite old, some of it even written before the first studio demo actually, but those songs didn't fit to the feeling of that demo so we saved them for later use then. At the moment we have 6 new songs ready already that we will record later this month like I said already.
5) Have you had any response so far on Azaghal?
Yes, we have had both very praising and very bad reviews. The bad reviews are mostly from people who's opinion is none important to us. We have had good response from the people that we respect and that's of course encouraging, although we wouldn't change anything even if no one would like our stuff. We believe in the stuff we play, we aren't playing black metal for fun or to entertain people.
6) What other projects has the Azaghal members, and does this interfere with the Azaghal work? Is Azaghal to be counted as a "side-project"?
Me and Kalma have a folk metal band called Hin Onde together with a guy called Wind. Hin Onde is very different to Azaghal but it's quite equally important with Azaghal, altough we rehearse much more with
Azaghal. BTW I heard a rumour that a label called Aftermath might be releasing a 7" from Hin Onde too... (allrighty then...Lord Trondheim) I also have medieval/fantasy based metal project called Valar, which has just released it's second cass.album "The Arrival of the Dragonlord", containing 40minutes of metal/medieval music in the vein of Summoning, the tape comes with fantastic looking colored pro covers for $5. Kalma also has a project in the same vein as Valar, called Druadan Forest.
There have also been/is also some other projects but they are not that important.
No, Azaghal is definetly not a side project as Azaghal goes much deeper than just the music.
7) What are your thoughts about the metal scene in Finland right now? I noticed in the news here that some teenagers were arrested for cannibalism not long ago. Is the scene turning brutal there, or
is this just a gang of posers?
- I didn't know personally the ones involved in the muti(i)lation murder and cannibalism, although they live in the same town as I do. They were some young kids, not really involved in the black metal scene. About
Finland's current scene: Here a lot of new "black metal" bands that just try to sound like Dimmu Borgir and become rockstars. They are a plague to the black metal scene which they desperately try to be a part but can
never be. There isn't many real black metal bands here in Finland that I respect.. The only one's are really Warloghe, Helwetti and perhaps Nightside.
But speaking of the whole metal scene, here is a lot of good bands: Nocturnal Winds (excelent melodic death metal, a Hyvink based band too), ex-Evenfall (also melodic death/heavy metal, they are searching
for a new name at the moment), Forever Winter (METAL!), Wind (ambient synth/classical music) and many other's more well known bands.
8) Any thoughts of the Norwegian metal scene now?
Of the new/less known black metal bands I think that Keep of Kalessin is perhaps the best. Also Carpathian Forest is really good and so is Urgehal. Then there is of course the big black metal bands like Darkthrone (the best), Immortal, Dodheimsgard etc. that still rule. When talking about other than black metal bands, my personal favorites are Borknagar, Ved Buens Ende, In The Woods..., Arcturus. Oh, and of course The Embraced hehee. (For the nnnthh time I have to point out that they are NOT black metal! -Lord Trondheim).
I would say that Norwegian black metal scene is perhaps not the best anymore, but generally speaking the Norwegian scene still rules.
9) How does Azaghal feel about live performances? Has there even been any, or is this just a abstract reality for the band?
- There hasn't yet been any life performances, but we would really like to start performing live as I think our material would kill live! So if anyone wants to offer us a gig get in touch! (How about a Norwegian tour
with The Embraced, eh Haavard?) ( If you come with the $$$!! - Lord Trondheim)
10)Allright, I guess that should be it for this time. Any final thoughts? Please state your contact addresses as well, of course.
-Thanks for the interview. The 7" can be ordered staight from the label, but if someone is interested in the "Kristinusko Liekeiss" demo (also available as a limited demo CD for $10) you can order it from me. I also have a small distro/tape label so interested people can ask for lists.
Death to Humanity! This is the Satanic War!
contact:
AZAGHAL HORDE
c/o T. Kalliola
Kaskentie 3 as.1
05840 HYVINK
SUOMI FINLAND
homepage of AZAGHAL:
Azaghal Homepage
homepage of my distro, DRAGONTHRONE PROD
Dragonthrone