It's really hard to find any information about BLACK ANVIL on the internet. Would you please tell our readers how the band formed and who its members are?
The band formed just over a year ago. We've all been in bands together/toured for the past decade, and our music in this time, advanced. This is where our minds are at. Our music has always been agressive, and over time it escalated. The band consists of 3, myself G & R. And like I said, all prior members of various bands in nyc. Kill Your Idols being the main one. This started around the time of the bands end and I feel personally has nothing in common with KYI to compare it to, so we started fresh without much of a background to discuss. We want to build this up as what it is and not what it was. 

I suppose you are Paul Delaney who used to play in Kill Your Idols and plays in Deathcycle. Although in my opinion Punk is one of the basic ingredients to Black Metal, the musical approach of Black Anvil can be considered as completely different from your other bands. How did your taste for Black Metal influences develop?
Yes. I am Paul, I'm on bass and most vocals, gary is on guitar and vox and raeph, drums vox. both members of KYI as well. It wasn't a direct jump from KYI to Black Anvil. We always pondered the idea of doing a metal band, Since I  met gary in '97. (and raeph I believe in '95) KYI's influences stretched from Poison Idea, to CroMags, to Sabbath, to flat out ripping off Sodom riffs. Gary started Deathcycle to lean toward his darker side of writing, because naturally that was what was becoming a stronger force. While most in our genre are deciding to pick up an accoustic guitar or start a pop band, the mutual dislike towards where our scene went in a way, drove us to this. the Black Metal aspect/attitude is simply natural. We didn't have an agenda to play "black metal" or have a sound. I initially wanted to do this with garys help for some time and wound up getting  behind the drums myself to start the ball rolling. Being from ages 31-40 in this band, the time has come for us to explore deeper into what we are about and why we are here and I feel this is only the begining of what we are about to create.

What is your drive to play this kind of music?
My drive is, like I mentioned above, My absolute disgust over the years toward everything else. This has been a long time in the making. And even since its birth, we were a band for a year before we played our first show. Its taken time, and it will take more time. The fact that we can still be driven, and not just bitter and jaded, due to years of excessive touring and writing is also a major factor. We all had time  apart from eachother, and this was its result.

On the band photos you are wearing corpse paint. Was that fun, playing with the cliché?
Not necessarily "fun", but we wanted to do it. Why not? We are who we are, we are from where we're from. We aren't going to fake anything or go above and beyond to prove any points. We chose to do so simply because we wanted to.

Isn't it rather exotic to be a Black Metal band in NYC?
It is different, there aren't many other bands to fit in with.  If we lived in Indiana or something, We probably wouldn't have it in us to create this shit. This city can give you thick skin. Especially when this is and has always been your home. I've seen its transformation into what its becoming. But what it was, is something that is not explainable.
That's a whole different story tho.

Who wrote the lyrics?
Altho inspired by us all, R is the man behind the pen.

In my impression the lyrics describe daily problems on a scale from getting up in the morning to ludicrous wars translated into a Black Metal kind of language. Could you agree on that?
I think our lyrics are actually way more complex than that. They may come across as tongue and cheek, but they are not exactly about what they seem on the outside. For ex. War, Release The Kracken is about a war in a sence I guess you can say, but it is a pretty personal song that I prefer to keep that way. I don't think they're worded into a black metal language rather, they're just well written. We don't follow any books or guidelines.

Some rhymes really sound funny, e.g. "flesh and wood, the dirt feels good". Was it intended to be a little ironic?
Our lyrics come as they are. Sometimes they rhyme. Sometimes a lot of lyrics rhyme. It wasn't written with a smile. As I said, you have to read between the lines a little to figure out a lot of these things. Some of them are personal to the extent that they wouldn't make sense to anyone outside of our circle. So we keep it a little more inside, for us.

What do "777" and "L.T.H.L.T.K." stand for?
"777" was actually written on 07/07/07 and "LTH.." is "Longer The Hate Longer The Knife"

"Ten Talons Deep", "Deathsomnia" and "L.T.H.L.T.K." sound in parts rather like Crustcore in the veins of Black Metal. How did these songs develop?
I don't know. They developed like any other song. We just had riffs and went with them. This is our style. If elements of punk shine thru, we go with what we feel. There is no script to writing music. We write what is natural, not what we should write to sound like "so and so" or the next guy.

How inspiring were Darkthrone's "The Cult Is Alive"-album and on the other hand Skitsystem's "Stigmata"-album for BLACK ANVIL?
I don't think either record actually individually inspired anything. Both are great records, not my favorite by either. there wasn't a moment when I put that on and said  "oh, it has to sound like this" everything influences me, music and beyond. From a band like Sigur Ros, to a ride to work on the subway, I am inspired in some way, be it positive or negative.

Why is the Celtic Frost-Cover "Dethroned Emeperor" hidden after some silence although it's written on the tracklist? So you really sing "Darkthrone Emperor"?
It wanst supposed to be on the artwork and more of a bonus track, and after noticing I didn't want to inconvenience our artist with more miniscule shit. Its there. So fuck it. We chose this song for many reasons. We would play that song to soundcheck in KYI for many years, so when it came time to fuck around after rehearsal, we naturally jammed it, and decided to just cover it. I don't know what you mean by "Darkthrone Emperor" we sing it pretty close to the original.

How is your relation to Satan?
We relate to the dark side of life.

Are you playing World of Warcraft? The Black Anvil is also an item in the game. If not, what does the name incorporate for you?
I've never played it. We were thinking of names and it just came out. Its influenced by Judas Priest actually.

How did you get on the billing for the gigs in the Netherlands? Did Johan from Monumentum help? Are you thinking about playing more gigs in Europe?
Yes. Johan has been pretty much the 4th member of this band. His help is beyond anything imaginable. He is a great friend to us and is considered family. Touring as of now isn't an option, however when/if it becomes one, we will make the moves needed.