Azaghal was formed in 1995 by guitarist Narqath and drummer Kalma (later known as VRTX & V-KHAOZ). Varjoherra joined our horde as a vocalist in 1997 and our first demo was recorded in late 1997 - early 1998.

Our second demo "Noituuden Torni" was recorded in March 1998 at the Cursed Studio. It featured mostly the same tracks as the "Reh.Demo" but this time with professional studio sounds. "Noituuden Torni" is also the only Azaghal release to feature synths and anyone that has heard this demo will surely agree with me that it was indeed a wise decision to forget them after this experiment.

After some months of intense rehearsing we entered the Cursed Studio again to record our third demo "Kristinusko Liekeissä" in September 1998, in the same recording session we also recorded material for our first professional release, the "Harmagedon" 7" which was released by Aftermath Music in early 1999. Both the demo and the EP received excelent response from the UG and the 500 copies of the EP were quickly sold out.

Our debut full-lenght "Mustamaa" was released in summer 1999 by Melancholy Productions (later known as ISO666). The album was originally released only on limited vinyl (300 copies), but was later re-released by ISO666 on CD. The "Mustamaa" album featured songs from two different recording sessions. Half of the songs were recorded at the Cursed Studio and half at the Hellkult Studio (nowadays known as Dragonthrone audio). "Mustamaa" is our most primitive release up to date.

When we recorded "Mustamaa" we had already the material composed for our second album and when Evil Horde Records offered us a deal for 2 full-lenght CD's we decided to accept the offer. And thus our second full-lenght "Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä" came out in December 1999. The material on "Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä was faster and brutaler than anything we had done before. "Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä" was again recorded at the Cursed Studio.
In 2000 was released a split CD with Mustan Kuun Lapset. This CD featured 5 new tracks from us and I think they are among the best tracks we have ever done. Too bad that the label Nocturnal Music turned out to be very unprofessiona and this CD is quite hard to find eventhough it should be still available.

Later the same year Carsten Molitor of Millenium Metal / Solistitium contacted us and inquired about the possibily of re-releasing some of the demos on a limited CD. As I still get a lot of letters asking about our demos we decided to accept this offer. "DeathKult MMDCLXVI" CD was released by Millenium Metal in autumn 2000 and the 900 copies were quickly sold out.

Altough there are lots of bad rumours circling in the underground about Carsten & Solistitium we found working with him very easy and fast, so when we had some extra tracks on our hands, which we knew wouldn't fit to our planned third full-lenght, we decided to release a split CD on Millenium Metal, this time with Spanish black metal maniacs BEHEADED LAMB. Our side of this split was titled "Suicide Anthems" and featured the most melodic and "rocking" material we have ever done (and ever will). Drumtracks for this album were laid down at the Cursed Studio in December 2000 and the rest were recorded at Dragonthrone Audio in January 2001. This split CD was released in early 2001 and again limited to 900 copies & now sold out.
Our tracks from the two split CD's (with Mustan Kuun Lapset and with Beheaded Lamb) were also released on limited (300) vinyl by Blut & Eisen. This vinyl release was called "Ihmisviha" and is also now sold out.

In early 2001 JL Nokturnal joined our horde as a lead guitarist and we recorded our third full-lenght album "Of Beasts And Vultures" in March 2001. Because of several delays (some because of our own lazyness and some because of Evil Horde) the original release date of the album (June 2001) was canceled and the release re-scheluded to spring 2002. After the recordings of this album we (Narqath & Varjoherra) decided to kick out drummer and founding member Kalma because he didn't share the same passion and dedication towards the music and ideology of Azaghal and black metal in general.

In early 2002 we decided to release another 7" EP (featuring 2 tracks that were recorded in the same session as the material for the "Suicide Anthems" split), and so "Helwettiläinen" 7" was released by Aftermath Music in February 2002.
http://blackterrormetal.cjb.net/