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Kataklysm – Maurizio Iacono
Posted on June 03, 2008 at 11:05 pm by admin

I’m pretty fortunate that in my circle of friends, Quebec bands are rated quite highly (we’re in southwestern Ontario). Since we’re always looking forward to hearing from Despised Icon and Cryptopsy, it was also with great pleasure that I spoke to one of Quebecs highly rated death metal and extreme bands, Katklysm, more specifically vocalist Maurizio Iacono.

Way Too Loud: How did you nail the release date for “Prevail” so far ahead of time? I think I heard the release date for “Prevail” announced about a year ago.

Maurizio Iacono: We wanted to hype it up way in advance! (Laughs) No, we knew the time frame that we were going to record. We pretty much had all the skeleton basis of all the songs on the record done. We know how we work. We’ve been at this for 15 years now, so we knew how we were going to plan it out, when we were going to finish, when we were going to end, and when a good time to release the record would be.

We kind of planned it so that there weren’t too many big releases around then, because you can tend to get overclouded a little bit. Being in the music business, you have to think not only as a musician, but also as a business person, and understand that there’s a lot more to it than just playing music.

WTL: So I’m guessing at this point in time you’re fortunate to play music as a day job.

Maurizio: Yes! I’m fortunate because it’s not easy, especially not in the death metal or extreme music scenes, it’s very difficult to do this full time and be able to tour full time.

WTL: How will the heartbeast be featured in the artwork this time?

Maurizio: It’s a pretty cool concept, we have him wrapped in chains, sitting on a big throne. It came out real cool. The guy that did it did a killer job. His name is Patrick Liquor [I wasn’t able to find the name, so it could be spelled wrong], and the heartbeast will be coming back again, because we’ve got a little story going on with him.

WTL: What can we expect on “Prevail”? I’m wondering if should ask this, because I just saw that the album is being streamed on MySpace [when I did the interview anyway].

Maurizio: For those who haven’t had a chance to hear it, it’s a really hard-hitting record. I don’t think a lot of people expected us to come out with such an aggressive record right after “In the arms of Devastation”, a catchy, melodic groove record. I still think we have a lot of those elements on this record, and it just felt right for us to do it right now. It came real spontaneous, and I think that this album is built around the live aspect, and I think it’ll hit harder when we play it live.

It’s going to be up there as far as one of the most extreme records, but it’s not going to be the most over-the-top album we’ve ever done. I think the heaviest parts are the heaviest ones so far, but I guess it depends on how you interpret it.

WTL: What’s the writing process like?

Maurizio: I live in Chicago, and everyone else is in Montreal, so it can be difficult to get together and do the things that we usually used to do, but for this record, we decided to work together more, and I flew to Montreal and wrote a lot of the record with the guys. It was cool to have us 4 in one room and write together again. The last two records, we kind of did it long distance with computers and samples, which was a little harder. It was really cool to do it together like this, and it came together so spontaneous.

We’re the type of band that believes less is more, and we didn’t want to put too much into something, because then you can lose the magic of the song, and this record came together quick and strong.

WTL: Speaking about simplicity, I’ve noticed that Kataklysm doesn’t have too many guitar solos. Does that help simplify things?

Maurizio: I like ‘em, but my guitar player doesn’t because he has to play them live! (Laughs) But we’ve never had a lot of them, and I think it’s more because we didn’t have the right spots to put them in. We didn’t feel comfortable with it, and we have one guitar player, and he decides where to put them, but we’ve done a lot more on this record, and we have some special guests as well. There’s about 6 solos on this record, which is more than what we usually do, which is 2 or 3. It’s up to him. You’ve got to feel it, and if you don’t feel it, you shouldn’t put it in.

WTL: Who provided some guest spots?

Maurizio: Dave Linsk from Overkill, he did the solo on “Blood in Heaven”, Pat O’Brien from Cannibal Corpse, he did the solos on the instrumental, “The Last Effort (Renaissance II)”, and Jason Suecof, who mixed the record, who’s a fabulous guitar player, he did a lot of solos on the Trivium record too, and he played on “The Vultures Are Watching”, and Jean-François Dagenais did the other 3. Jason’s a fan of the band, and he’s a fan of the death metal scene too. We just felt that we wanted to have a different approach, and the last 2 times we had 2 different guys mix the record, and we wanted to try with an American producer and see how it would work together, and try some new things, so it worked out well!

WTL: I’m guessing that writers block was not a problem.

Maurizio: Not a problem at all! I think we have a lot of inspiration left, and I think we’re a band that’s comfortable where it’s at now, but still knows it could do much better, and still push the boundaries further down. I think it’s coming together slowly but steady. We’re a band that took it’s time over the year, it wasn’t like an overnight thing.

One thing about us is that our foundation is really solid, so when the time comes, and I hope it’s soon, we’re going to come out with the big, big record that’s going to be the pinnacle. We’re still not there yet, but we’re on our way!

WTL: What’s it like shooting a video? I’ve heard different things from having to lip-sync to actually having to scream, so what did you do during the shoot?

Maurizio: I whispered, kind of. I didn’t scream, and mimicking it is kind of weird. I didn’t want to scream the whole thing and go nuts and blow my voice, I had to be there 12 hours! Those who scream probably do the shoot in 2 hours or less, because I don’t think you could scream for 12 hours, I don’t care how good you are! It was like minus 15 degrees, really cold, freezing our balls off outside. It was an apocalyptic feel in Newark, New Jersey with David Brodsky who’s worked with Goatwhore, Strapping Young Lad and a bunch of others.

WTL: Yeah, I noticed that I could see your breath in that video.

Maurizio: I actually got really sick after that video.

WTL: Do you think that the general public today is starting view death metal as more acceptable form of art and expression?

Maurizio: I think it’s totally acceptable now compared to what it was before. We’ve had people in their 50’s come to our shows who are totally into it. That never would’ve happened 10 years. To me, it’s something that’s a lot more accepted, and a lot of bands made it that way too, bands like Slipknot brought it to the next level and made extreme music more acceptable, and Pantera did the same in their days. People are a lot more open-minded now with music. In the beginning, when something is new, and it’s heavy and crazy, people tend to put it aside and say it’s not good music for you, but it was like that with Black Sabbath too. I think people are a lot more used to it now.

When we first started this, and people would ask us what kind of music we play, we weren’t like “We play death metal!” because they’d say “What the fuck is that?” so we’d say we play heavy rock or heavy metal. We never used to say we played death metal, or grindcore or extreme music because nobody would understand it, but now people will say they went to our MySpace page, and people my parent age will say “You play death metal!” It’s like what the fuck? How do they know? (Laughs) I just spread, and now it’s accepted.

WTL: I’m wondering what it’s like in Quebec, because it seems like extreme music is much more acceptable there, as is different music in general.

Maurizio: They say no ones a king in their own land sometimes, but for us, it was something that took us a long time to get accepted in our home town. People tend to want what they don’t have, and they’ll want bands from outside, but lately we’ve gotten this enormous amount of support, from Canada especially, all the way from Montreal to Vancouver. The Canadian tours are usually successful for the band, and now the anticipation for the new record is really big in Canada for the first time. We’ve reached new goals, and we’re really happy that the support has grown, especially in Quebec.

The metal scene in Canada used to be Montreal, Toronto, and that was it, maybe a little bit of Quebec city, and maybe Vancouver a little bit, but now after touring Canada a few times, you can see that it’s developing over the whole country, like in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. We just played Prince George, and it was a phenomenal show. The scene is growing everywhere, and I think it’s a good thing.

WTL: I’m friends with Despised Icon, Ion Dissonance and Beneath The Massacre, so I’m wondering how it feels to be named as an influence to a new generation from the same place as you.

Maurizio: I think they’re bringing the torch along, and they’re great bands that are developing the sound. What I love about the new bands is that they don’t sound like us, and they don’t sound like Cryptopsy, they sound like themselves. It’s a good thing, because a lot of bands tend to play it safe and repeat whatever is going on out there. I think it’s really cool that we’ll be touring with Despised Icon this summer and Cryptopsy as well during the Summer Slaughter tour.

For awhile it was Kataklysm and Cryptopsy, like Montreal Vs. Boston hockey rivalry for awhile, but today it’s become where we’re all friends who are mature. We’re all working together for the same goal. There’s going to be a lot of Quebec people on this tour. There’s a couple of crew people from Quebec too. We hired some people. I would think that there’s going to be at least 15 people from Quebec on this tour travelling.

WTL: It seems like ties between generations are stronger in Quebec than any other scene.

Maurizio: I think a place like New York or something, every 10 years, there’s shitloads of bands that get signed, and most get forgotten while a couple do big things, and there’s too much going on too fast. In places like Quebec or Canada, it’s a handful of bands that get signed. For awhile, we were the only signed band in Canada playing extreme music, and it was kind of scary because there’s so much talent here, but why isn’t anybody signing it? When you have a Suffocation out of New York and a Suffocation out of Canada, labels are going to sign the one from New York because it’s easier to market. It’s American, it’ll sell, they’ll break in Europe faster, it’s an American thing. That’s what made a lot of Canadian bands work on their sound and their identity. If you notice bands that got signed from Rush to Voivod to Strapping Young Lad to Sacrifice to Cryptopsy to us to Gorguts, even Despised Icon, everybody is different, and I think it’s made Canada this country where it promotes this progressive or different typeof vibe.

WTL: Since we were talking about Cryptopsy, what do you think about the new Cryptopsy album?

Maurizio: I heard the first song like everybody else did on the net, and I was really shocked about it, and I didn’t think they’d go that far and make a huge difference from what they’re known to do, but then I got the record, I think it was last week when I was in Los Angeles, and I heard it at the label, and it’s not bad at all! It’s a good record, it’s just that the 2 songs that they experimented with leaked first, and I think it hurt the band on the level where there’s a lot of people talking shit. But you’ve got to play live, and that’s where battles are won, it’s not what people say on the internet. It tends to be bullshit, because it hurts the band off the bat for their record, but when you listen to the record, it’s actually a pretty good record, it’s just those 2 or 3 songs that throw a curveball to a different direction that people aren’t used to.

It’s very, very difficult to use lean vocals when you’re know as an extreme death metal band. When someone sings really clean, it’s hard for kids to accept. If I was in their shoes, I would kind of expect the flak, but that doesn’t mean that it’s shit, it’s a good record. They just need to play it live and show people there, and it’ll be ok.

WTL: I always like to see the bands I like getting support slots on bigger tours and exposing themselves to new audiences, so do you see yourself getting on some more tours where you’re not headlining, and you’re not playing with death metal bands?

Maurizio: When we did the Dimmu Borgir tour, that was the most successful tour we’ve done in the states. As an opening act, we came shining on that tour. We did direct support for Chimaira, and that was a really cool tour, then we did Shadows Fall, so it depends on who we’re connected with, and where the band fits. Kataklysm, we’re blessed to where we can tour with anybody. It’s not really a big issue for us to tour with an extreme band or a black metal band, or a more commercial band like Slipknot, we could fit with everybody. We’ve just got that type of writing in our music that makes us more accessible than some of the other underground stuff.

WTL: Who would you like to tour with who’s both feasible, but not obvious?

Maurizio: Iron Maiden! I would love to tour with Iron Maiden. We’re all fans of the band, especially my guitar player. If you told him Iron Maiden sucks, he’d probably never talk to you again. Especially with the contrast of vocals, they’re very melodic while we’re more aggressive. That would be a band I’d love to tour with every night, just to see their show.

WTL: And my final Question, I recently talked to another band with Canadian members about bagged milk, and I’m wondering, is Ontario the only place that has that now?

Maurizio: We had bagged milk in Quebec, but they took it off.

WTL: So it’s just an Ontario thing now?

Maurizio: Yeah, you’ve got to keep that tradition going!

Kataklysm at MySpace

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