Kataklysm: To Reign Again
It’s no secret that KATAKLYSM are movie fans. Throughout their career, they’ve had soundbites from Gladiator, Road To Perdition, Man On Fire, Hellraiser and many more opening their albums. At a casual glance, there’s no obvious links between these movies. They’re from different genres and directors, and initially appear to have been chosen at random, but there’s one key similarity: they’re all about people who are going through serious hardship.
“I came up the hard way, I’ve struggled in my life with depression and I’m the type of person that doesn’t give up. My lyrics are all about that,” vocalist Maurizio Iacono tells us over Zoom. “I wasn’t protected by the suburbs and tons of money, no-one said ‘here’s fifty thousand dollars to record your album.’ I had to build it and I had all these obstacles to overcome. Everything I go through I put in my lyrics and it’s connected with tons and tons and tons of people.”
That ruthless determination and unwillingness to bend has taken KATAKYLSM far. Since their humble origins in Montreal in the early nineties, they’ve built an impressive legacy. The forthcoming Goliath is their fifteenth album, and they’ve travelled around the world multiple times. They count bands like SOILWORK and DEICIDE as friends, and have carved out a reputation as a hardworking, reliable band. You don’t get many surprises from their records or live shows, but do you get consistently high-quality metal every single time.
And quelle surprise, Goliath rules. It’s a forty-minute slab of their signature ‘northern hyperblast,’ packed with intense riffs, catchy choruses and impeccable drumming. It’s an uncomplicated, bang-head-constantly album and Maurizio sings like a man whose voice box is on fire. Just like everything else they’ve released in the past twenty-eight years.
This time, it opens with a line from Medieval, a brutal historical movie starring Ben Foster as mercenary-turned-military-genius Jan Žižka. His musings on the divine right of Kings lead into Dark Wings Of Deception and appropriately set the tone for the record that follows. The film and album are grim, violent and uncompromising. Maurizio has found inspiration from cinema yet again. “I don’t have the patience to read a whole book. I’ll start reading but I prefer documentaries and movies,” he laughs.
His tastes don’t always rely on extreme blood-letting, but despite being a fan, he says he’ll never open a KATAKLYSM album with an Austin Powers soundbite. KATAKLYSM are a band about conquering demons, be they personal or external. This partly explains a work ethos that has led to them being on tour almost constantly and having an average two-year gap between albums. But it also explains the connection they have with their fanbase.
“You go to a KATAKLYSM show and we’re probably one of the few death metal bands where people sing along with the lyrics. It’s all tangible, but there’s also a message behind it about facing your demons and fighting for your survival. People really connect with that,” he says. “The album’s called Goliath, but we’re David! You’ve got to fight back and conquer whatever is pushing you down. There’s a line in there, ‘no enemies too big’. Sometimes it seems like the monster is too big and it’s winning, but it won’t be that way forever.”
Curiously though, despite all the talk of demons, one area which doesn’t appeal to Maurizio is Satanism. This might sound unusual, especially when you consider the number of KATAKLYSM songs about vengeful Gods cleansing worlds with fire, not to mention all those winged monstrosities on their album covers, but he finds the stereotype of the devil-worshipping metalhead just a little silly.
“I think the whole Satan thing is ridiculous. Some people love it and that’s great, but it’s not for me you know? I’m like, ‘you want to burn in a lake of fire? Okay. Not for me, thank you’,” he laughs. “The other side isn’t great either, they’ve got their own rules and doctrines. But I’m all for positivity. Go for what makes you happy. It might not sound very metal, but cheering for the underdog is.”
Even with such an impressive legacy to his name, Maurizio still sees himself and his band as underdogs. In some respects they are. KATAKLYSM have a devoted army of fans, but they’re still a more niche act. They’ve never been involved in big scandals or attracted major headlines, they’ve just got on with the business of creating great death metal. The core trio of Maurizio, guitarist Jean-Francois Dagenais and bassist Stephane Barbe have been together since 1998 and they’ve grown into a formidable, albeit consistently underrated act.
And despite feeling like the eternal underdog, Maurizio is also level-headed enough to know that he’s made it. He’s got to live out his boyhood dream of travelling the world and play heavy music. One week his band will play a dingy little venue, the next he’ll be storming a festival stage in Germany and performing to tens of thousands, but it’s obvious he’s gracious for every second of it. He’s got there by sheer determination to get up, play and keep playing until he can’t any longer. His one piece of advice to his younger self is simple:
“Don’t panic, be patient. It’s all going to come together. You’ll make decisions when you panic. I’m a paranoid guy in general and I believe that’s a weapon. When you’re paranoid, you tend to look at the things that can hurt you, so I question things. But sometimes you bring it to levels you don’t need to. It triggers anxiety and depression. It’s hard, but you’ve got to believe in yourself. You’ll achieve things and be surprised where you wind up.”
Goliath is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
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