Kataklysm is one the better known but still underrated Canadian death metal bands. They have made six albums so far and have fans all over the world but if we talk about death metal in general their name pops up only a few times. They even found and named their own style and so far 'northern hyperblast' has become their trade mark and as years passed by, they became stronger and fortunately more popular. In 2002 they released Shadows & Dust, another characteristic album. From the first time I listened to it I knew I must see them live in support for this album so when I found out that they were playing at the Anti Xmas festival in Vienna, I decided to go.
Just 2 hours before their show I had opportunity to put up some questions to Maurizio Iacono, in the back of their tour bus.
- You are in Europe for a week now, how is the tour going?
- Actually we have been in Europe since Deceber 1st. We did a tour in England, Scotland and Ireland and then we started the Xmas festivals. Probably this is the best Kataklysm tour. It's never been this hyped and this good for us in a long time. All the shows have been sold out, except the English tour. There were someting like 200 ppl every night but that was still crazy and really cool.
- Shadows & Dust came out a few months ago, what are the responses like so far?
- I'm very surprised about how good it's been received, it's been incredible for us to see it. The album came out as the biggest death metal record in Germany and it's got all over the world great responses and so far and according to NB it's the biggest Kataklysm album. We are very, very happy because after 10 years we are still able to do some music that is so intersting.
- And personally, how do you feel about the album? Are you totally satisfied with it?
- Yes. I think we can still do more and better in the future. We have discovered what we are good at, what we are able to do. We finally find ourselves with this album and with the last before this, with Epic. Shadows & Dust productionwise is really good. JF did a really good job for it. The arrangements are a little bit easier than in the past, it's more easy to listen to the album and I think for the time we spent on it we did a really good job.
It took only 2-2,5 month to write the record. I had some chorus ideas from before but we wrote all the music in 2 months and I wrote some lyrics in the studio also. Everything was pretty fast, but we are fast writers. If we take too much time sometimes we get a bit lost, the music becomes too complicated. We didn't want to do another too complicated, too complex album, we wanted a record that is easy to listen but at the same time it's intricate and has a lot of detail. So we worked on it a lot, mixed different styles together that we think we are good at doing and I think we accomplished a really good death metal record.
- Do you like when Kataklysm is considered as a death metal band?
- No, we never liked to be called a death metal band since the beginning because when they came up with that style, it meant bands like Death or Obituary and stuff like that but we never sounded like these bands. We always have our own sound, our own identity. That's why we came out with the northern hyperblast style. We came up with that in the early days now its something that everybody use around the world. So, we have our own identity but it you want to come closest to this style, maybe death metal could make ppl understand what we are about.
In the sense of how we sound I think we are a melodic extreme act. We have melodies and lot of slow parts but we are so mixed with styles that is difficult to really say that we sound like one thing. Kataklysm is a band at you have to find 5 or 6 bands and say that it`s sound a bit like all these bands. I think when you are able to do that you are an original band. If you can be compared to only one band then you are not original. But if they say you are a bit like this, this and that, and so on, then you have your own identity because they can`t say you sound like one exact band. Today it is difficult to be one identity and come up with one style because so many bands have done so many styles. Difficult to have your own creation, you know.
- Many times you`ve been compared to Cryptopsy
- Cryptopsy is a band that started after us. We were doing this before them. They had a lot of good records and a lot of good push also I think. We had good records as well but we didn`t have a strong push behind the records. They came up doing this stuff that made them a popular band but now I think we are starting to have our own respect in that vein. I remember when we first came out and we already had one album when they just released their first album and then everybody was saying Cryptopsy sounded like Kataklysm. They became popular and more ppl know them so they think we sound like a bit like them. But as everybody knows we`ve been here before. We used to practice like in one room, they would practice in a room before us. Their band was called Necrosis and they were a thrash band. We were doing death metal, we were Kataklysm already. Then they changed their sound and became death metal. I don`t mind it, it`s ok with me as long as ppl know what`s the truth. Because this is how it happened and it`s not the opposite way, we don`t copy them. I think specially with Shadows & Dust we don't sound like anything Cryptopsy's right now. They are a very technical band, they don't have a lot of grooves I think we have more of that, we are a more dark sounding band than they are and they are more commercial in the sense of technicallity and more American styled while we have an European edge. We are more emotional, Kataklysm has more feeling in the music.
- What does the band name Kataklysm mean?
- It means the end of the world by natural devastation. It's coming from Latin originally we only changed the c-s into k-s in the English word. In Latin it is 'cataclysmos'. We changed the letters because we thought it looks better with the k-s. It's nothing to do with Kreator or anything, for us it just looked better that way. And I like the meaning of the word specially with the sound of the music we do it really fits, it's really the end of the world by natural devastation and most of our songs are talk about that too.
- What is the logo of the band made of?
- It's a tribal sun. Its middle represents the Necronomicon which is a gateway between the good and the evil side of the world. That's how we picture it. Our ex-drummer from the demo days and our ex-singer designed it and I put it together. First it was the circle with the star and then the Kataklysm was just under it in half circle and then I decided to make it like a sun. So, it's like a tribal sun and I think it's an original logo because Kataklysm is written around it and a lot of ppl still don't know that. If you are able to do a logo like that that ppl don't know what it means after a couple of years, there is always something new to find about that, it makes the whole logo thing original. It's not hard to see it if you know it is there.
- The band is more than 10 years old now but still an undergournd band.
- Yes, we are. The reason why we are still around for 10-11 years is because we are still underground. If we were a more major band we wouldn't last that long, I think. All the bands that become really, really big are big for a couple of years and then they start going down. I think this music is not meant to be popular, for masses it's meant to be for underground. You can become very big in the underground but not to pass a next level. Like if Sony would come to me and say we want to sign Kataklysm I would not sign them because I don't think a band will make it on a label like that. It's too big. If they put our record out and sell 100.000 that wouldn't be enough for them. So, it's better to stay at an independent label.
- There was a short break between Kataklysm and Nuclear Blast some years ago. Are you satisfied with them now?
- Yes, I'm very satsified now. When we started, they believed in the band a lot, when they signed us. They did a lot for the first two records but did nothing for the 'Temple of Knowledge'. That time was difficult because the musical styles changed power and black metal became more popular and we were doing the opposite of that, death metal. They didn't give us any money for touring. That album became popular a year after it was released. We felt if we stayed at that label we wouldn't get the recognition and right push we deserve. We decide to go on our own way but they didn't want us to leave. We had a lot of problems for one year but we finally left them - we had problems in the band, we changed some members. Eventually we made the Prophecy record for that other label but they heard it and wanted to release it, so we made a deal and they promised all the help they could give. So far, they did an incredible job for us. We give good albums to them otherwise they wouldn't do it.
- Did you celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band?
- Yeah, actually we did it with NB. They did a special edition for the Epic record and a 10 years anniversary double cd and we did a show in Montreal also for that where we had a good time.
- The band?
- Not really, we just said 'happy anniversary'. For us it's cool but this line up we have now has been together for 6 years. It's the reason why we are getting better with every records because we know each other so well, it's easy to write this way. If somebody new comes in, it's not the same chemistry, that is always more difficult.
- Do you still have the same inspirations for the lyrics, for the music?
- More than ever I think. We've always been a band that has a lot of pressure from the fans in a sense of like always have to be the most extreme band, always have to have crazy lyrics and stuff like this and I think the last three records we decided to do what we think is the best for us. What is the best for us is what we feel inside, and what we feel inside is to have all our influences in the music. But in the underground matter and respecting the band's name which is Kataklysm is meant to be a certain way and I don't think Kataklysm is a band that needs to prove that it is an extreme act, I think we've done that. An album like Temple of Knowledge1 for me is the most extreme record ever released. After three songs you say 'holy shit, I've had enough'. When you do that you reach a limit how extreme you have to be so I don't know why we have to always copy that record, we are not gonna do it. So we decided to do something different instead of playing safe and always do the same album. We decided to be a band that will always do something new that ppl can not expect but they know it will be killer. That's what we wanted to do, what's what we've done with the last three records they do not sound the same. Prophecy, Epic and Shadows & Dust I don't think sound the same. And every song is different. That's the other thing with us I don't like to do one song and the next song is exactly the same but with different vocals. We want to do always a new vibe with every song. If somebody pays for a cd that should have the best of Kataklysm.
- But there are fans who say your first three album was your best and since those you became too melodic, more commercial.
- I cannot satisfy everybody, that's the first thing I would tell them. I would tell them also I don't believe that the band is less evident than it was. If you put even 'Temple of Knowledge' with the new albums productionsvise is not comparable. It sound so small and now it sounds so big, there is a big difference in sound. It's more accessible than before I think so but I'm not 18 yo anymore doing the crazy, crazy shit. I mean we could still do it if we we wanted to. I think this band could still do the most brutal music in the world, but that is not something we feel we should do. I think our fans have grown with us with every record they follow us and they appreciate what we do. The prove that the band is better than it was is we are selling a lot more records. I think we have not lost our fans from the early days, they are still coming to our shows and we still play the old stuff live. I think a band sells out when they dont't play any song from their past, just their new album all the time. We still play songs from our first album live.
I think that percent of ppl who say that is very small now, it's not like before when it was 50-50% when started to do all this changes in the band. If you like 'Sourcery' I don't see how can't you like Shadows & Dust, it is melodic also. The only album that is not melodic of Kataklysm is 'Temple of Knowledge' which is a very technical record but the only song that is very popular from that album is 'The Awakener' and that song is melodic. I think the ppl who say the old Kataklysm was better is because they like our ex-vocalist Silvian better, I think they are fans of him. But then they are not really fans of Kataklysm because there is no way the music is less good now than it was. We are better musicians now than we were before and that's the truth. We've been doing this for 15 years, the band is much stronger than it was.
- How do you build up the albums, how do you choose which songs come after each other?
- I'm always the one who does that at every album. I don't know why, maybe I have a good ear to place songs. I always see the beginning of the song and the end. I look how it ends and how the next song start, if they fit to each other. If I finish a song in a certain way, the next song should start a certain way to make it right. Because if they don't do that, for example if you put two slow songs in the beginning of the album ppl will be already bored. If you put it in the middle ppl can get a little rest. This is the specific way to organize the whole line-up of the songs. Shadows & Dust seemed a logic song to start the album with. Not just because it is the titletrack but I felt it was the right song. It has a lot groove, usually we always start the album with blastings, this time I said let's make it different, something ppl don't expect.
- You had a song that lyrics is in French, will you write another songs in French again?
- No, I don't think so. It was a killer song for that time, our ex-singer wanted to do that, I agreed so we did it. But that was only specially for that song, I don't think we should do that again. We made that song for the fans back home and I think it should remain that way. Maybe an Italian song.. ha-ha
- Who chose the song 'Shadows & Dust' to make a videoclip from?
- Me. We were supposed to do the video from the second song 'Beyond Salvation', but the problem is it is too long, almost 5 minutes long. It was too long to play on tv in the metal shows. So, we had to choose another one and I came up with 'Shadows & Dust' and everybody agreed.
It was filmed in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium, it's a simple video, but it brings the point. We wanted something that reflects the artwork of the album, like fire and stuff like that, so we used some effect and I think it came out ok.
- The cover was made by the same artist who made the cover of Epic, his style is recognizable.
- Yes, he worked with Hypocrisy and Dimmu Borgir too. NB didn't like the guy we were using before so they said let's get this guy. I was very satisfied with his work on Epic and he did a really nice cover for this album too. I gave him ideas, I gave him the title of the album, I tell him about the subject and then he made same sketches. So far the first two covers he made we're taking them right away. The cover of Shadows & Dust represent humanity.
- In the last three years you've released a new album almost at the same time of the year. How did it come?
- NB wanted that. We did the Prophecy album and that went really well for Kataklysm, then we made a tour with Destruction when we played in Hungary too. So NB said let's make an another record right the way. So we capitalized on the hype of the band. We did Epic and they were telling us we did a really killer record. I think what we achieved on Epic was really good for us it pushed us to another level. Then they said 'now the band is very close of becoming a pretty big band' and I thought we need another album. As I said we write fast and we had most of the material done I asked for one more month before we could enter the studio. They gave us the time and we did it finally. When they received it they freaked out, they liked it and they did a really big push to this album. We are on tour since August an we are gonna finish next summer. We did a tour in the States in August, then in September - October a Canadian tour with 15 shows, we spent November at home, in December we are here in Europe, next year in February-March we are going to play in the US again with Hate Eternal and Dying Fetus, then we may with Hypocrisy hit the US again, then Wacken and some other festival gigs in the summer. And they already asked us to come back to Europe in September but I think that would be a bit too much.
- Somewhere I've read that playing at the Wacken Open Air was some kind of a dream of yours...
-Yes, we waited a long time for it. I think we deserve to play at such a big festival and now we are among the first band that has been confirmed. We played at With Full Force in 2001 and that was a killer show. We will see how it goes if it is worth, if the is demand is big, to come back to play in Europe in the autumn. I know one fact for sure, we are not gonna do another record in 2003. Shadows & Dust is a big album and I think we have to wait now at least 1,5 years. I think if we release and album soon we would end up till the end of 2004. We already have two new songs and they are killers. We are very anxious to record a next album already but we want to take our time and do the right moves, you know. 4 albums in 4 years is too much. You need some time to breath, even the fans were surprised when one year later, after Epic we already come out with a new album, ppl still buying that record. Shadows & Dust is a big album, it's not been like this for us ever, so now we have to take it easy and take our time to next one.
- You are touring a lot now, have you thought about putting a DVD or live album together?
- Not for now. Last year at the With Full Force some of our songs had been recorded for the WFF DVD, that's all.
- We already talked about that you are touring a lot with different bands, but is there any band you would like to play together?
- Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower. These are the two bands I always admired, they influenced us a lot in the early days. Carcass is unfortunately not around anymore. It was fun to play with all the bands so far, just my personal favourite would be Napalm Death.
- Do you like to play in smaller or bigger venues?
- Kataklysm is doing the same show if there is 10 or 2000 ppl. I prefer to play on smaller stages before because we were not comfortable to play on big stages but now we've done so many gig on big stages, we are used to it. But I rather play for 10 ppl who are going insane. I hate when ppl are just standing and there is no reaction.
- 'Shadows & Dust' has a great reception, what do you think what is ahead of the band now?
- I don't think the band will write less good albums as we've been doing now. I think if the fans will stick around that's fine, but if they don't, they don't but the band, I know, have a couple of more records ahead. That will be very intersting to pushing the limits still. I don't know if we will be around at 50 yo still doing this. Maybe for a couple of more years we can do this, 10-15 years or so more than that I don't think so. Maybe just do records but not touring. It depends. It's a very difficult question to answer right now, when the band is doing very well.
I thik we have a couple of more years ahead of us, touringwise I'm not sure. It is very difficult with this system to this. For example the blast beats our drummer does are difficult and I don't know if he can do it in 10 years or we will get a slower band. We will see. We still have two records on the NB contract before that expires we will see what happens after that.
- Thanks for the interview, finish as you wish.
- We are very interested in return to Hungary. It's a country that has always open arms for us. We took only two shows there but those were memorable. Between the songs the crowd was shouting our name Kataklysm and that was something special to see. But all the other countries in Eastern Europe where we played was a great place for us. We always tell our agent we want to play in this areas. If we come back to Europe next time and they want us to play ther we will back. I hope I can keep my promise. Thank you to Hungary and hopefully we see you soon.
Read about Epic and Shadows & Dust among the UM reviews: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=48
Read a live review on the Anti Xmas festival: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=67164
Just 2 hours before their show I had opportunity to put up some questions to Maurizio Iacono, in the back of their tour bus.
- You are in Europe for a week now, how is the tour going?
- Actually we have been in Europe since Deceber 1st. We did a tour in England, Scotland and Ireland and then we started the Xmas festivals. Probably this is the best Kataklysm tour. It's never been this hyped and this good for us in a long time. All the shows have been sold out, except the English tour. There were someting like 200 ppl every night but that was still crazy and really cool.
- Shadows & Dust came out a few months ago, what are the responses like so far?
- I'm very surprised about how good it's been received, it's been incredible for us to see it. The album came out as the biggest death metal record in Germany and it's got all over the world great responses and so far and according to NB it's the biggest Kataklysm album. We are very, very happy because after 10 years we are still able to do some music that is so intersting.
- And personally, how do you feel about the album? Are you totally satisfied with it?
- Yes. I think we can still do more and better in the future. We have discovered what we are good at, what we are able to do. We finally find ourselves with this album and with the last before this, with Epic. Shadows & Dust productionwise is really good. JF did a really good job for it. The arrangements are a little bit easier than in the past, it's more easy to listen to the album and I think for the time we spent on it we did a really good job.
It took only 2-2,5 month to write the record. I had some chorus ideas from before but we wrote all the music in 2 months and I wrote some lyrics in the studio also. Everything was pretty fast, but we are fast writers. If we take too much time sometimes we get a bit lost, the music becomes too complicated. We didn't want to do another too complicated, too complex album, we wanted a record that is easy to listen but at the same time it's intricate and has a lot of detail. So we worked on it a lot, mixed different styles together that we think we are good at doing and I think we accomplished a really good death metal record.
- Do you like when Kataklysm is considered as a death metal band?
- No, we never liked to be called a death metal band since the beginning because when they came up with that style, it meant bands like Death or Obituary and stuff like that but we never sounded like these bands. We always have our own sound, our own identity. That's why we came out with the northern hyperblast style. We came up with that in the early days now its something that everybody use around the world. So, we have our own identity but it you want to come closest to this style, maybe death metal could make ppl understand what we are about.
In the sense of how we sound I think we are a melodic extreme act. We have melodies and lot of slow parts but we are so mixed with styles that is difficult to really say that we sound like one thing. Kataklysm is a band at you have to find 5 or 6 bands and say that it`s sound a bit like all these bands. I think when you are able to do that you are an original band. If you can be compared to only one band then you are not original. But if they say you are a bit like this, this and that, and so on, then you have your own identity because they can`t say you sound like one exact band. Today it is difficult to be one identity and come up with one style because so many bands have done so many styles. Difficult to have your own creation, you know.
- Many times you`ve been compared to Cryptopsy
- Cryptopsy is a band that started after us. We were doing this before them. They had a lot of good records and a lot of good push also I think. We had good records as well but we didn`t have a strong push behind the records. They came up doing this stuff that made them a popular band but now I think we are starting to have our own respect in that vein. I remember when we first came out and we already had one album when they just released their first album and then everybody was saying Cryptopsy sounded like Kataklysm. They became popular and more ppl know them so they think we sound like a bit like them. But as everybody knows we`ve been here before. We used to practice like in one room, they would practice in a room before us. Their band was called Necrosis and they were a thrash band. We were doing death metal, we were Kataklysm already. Then they changed their sound and became death metal. I don`t mind it, it`s ok with me as long as ppl know what`s the truth. Because this is how it happened and it`s not the opposite way, we don`t copy them. I think specially with Shadows & Dust we don't sound like anything Cryptopsy's right now. They are a very technical band, they don't have a lot of grooves I think we have more of that, we are a more dark sounding band than they are and they are more commercial in the sense of technicallity and more American styled while we have an European edge. We are more emotional, Kataklysm has more feeling in the music.
- What does the band name Kataklysm mean?
- It means the end of the world by natural devastation. It's coming from Latin originally we only changed the c-s into k-s in the English word. In Latin it is 'cataclysmos'. We changed the letters because we thought it looks better with the k-s. It's nothing to do with Kreator or anything, for us it just looked better that way. And I like the meaning of the word specially with the sound of the music we do it really fits, it's really the end of the world by natural devastation and most of our songs are talk about that too.
- What is the logo of the band made of?
- It's a tribal sun. Its middle represents the Necronomicon which is a gateway between the good and the evil side of the world. That's how we picture it. Our ex-drummer from the demo days and our ex-singer designed it and I put it together. First it was the circle with the star and then the Kataklysm was just under it in half circle and then I decided to make it like a sun. So, it's like a tribal sun and I think it's an original logo because Kataklysm is written around it and a lot of ppl still don't know that. If you are able to do a logo like that that ppl don't know what it means after a couple of years, there is always something new to find about that, it makes the whole logo thing original. It's not hard to see it if you know it is there.
- The band is more than 10 years old now but still an undergournd band.
- Yes, we are. The reason why we are still around for 10-11 years is because we are still underground. If we were a more major band we wouldn't last that long, I think. All the bands that become really, really big are big for a couple of years and then they start going down. I think this music is not meant to be popular, for masses it's meant to be for underground. You can become very big in the underground but not to pass a next level. Like if Sony would come to me and say we want to sign Kataklysm I would not sign them because I don't think a band will make it on a label like that. It's too big. If they put our record out and sell 100.000 that wouldn't be enough for them. So, it's better to stay at an independent label.
- There was a short break between Kataklysm and Nuclear Blast some years ago. Are you satisfied with them now?
- Yes, I'm very satsified now. When we started, they believed in the band a lot, when they signed us. They did a lot for the first two records but did nothing for the 'Temple of Knowledge'. That time was difficult because the musical styles changed power and black metal became more popular and we were doing the opposite of that, death metal. They didn't give us any money for touring. That album became popular a year after it was released. We felt if we stayed at that label we wouldn't get the recognition and right push we deserve. We decide to go on our own way but they didn't want us to leave. We had a lot of problems for one year but we finally left them - we had problems in the band, we changed some members. Eventually we made the Prophecy record for that other label but they heard it and wanted to release it, so we made a deal and they promised all the help they could give. So far, they did an incredible job for us. We give good albums to them otherwise they wouldn't do it.
- Did you celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band?
- Yeah, actually we did it with NB. They did a special edition for the Epic record and a 10 years anniversary double cd and we did a show in Montreal also for that where we had a good time.
- The band?
- Not really, we just said 'happy anniversary'. For us it's cool but this line up we have now has been together for 6 years. It's the reason why we are getting better with every records because we know each other so well, it's easy to write this way. If somebody new comes in, it's not the same chemistry, that is always more difficult.
- Do you still have the same inspirations for the lyrics, for the music?
- More than ever I think. We've always been a band that has a lot of pressure from the fans in a sense of like always have to be the most extreme band, always have to have crazy lyrics and stuff like this and I think the last three records we decided to do what we think is the best for us. What is the best for us is what we feel inside, and what we feel inside is to have all our influences in the music. But in the underground matter and respecting the band's name which is Kataklysm is meant to be a certain way and I don't think Kataklysm is a band that needs to prove that it is an extreme act, I think we've done that. An album like Temple of Knowledge1 for me is the most extreme record ever released. After three songs you say 'holy shit, I've had enough'. When you do that you reach a limit how extreme you have to be so I don't know why we have to always copy that record, we are not gonna do it. So we decided to do something different instead of playing safe and always do the same album. We decided to be a band that will always do something new that ppl can not expect but they know it will be killer. That's what we wanted to do, what's what we've done with the last three records they do not sound the same. Prophecy, Epic and Shadows & Dust I don't think sound the same. And every song is different. That's the other thing with us I don't like to do one song and the next song is exactly the same but with different vocals. We want to do always a new vibe with every song. If somebody pays for a cd that should have the best of Kataklysm.
- But there are fans who say your first three album was your best and since those you became too melodic, more commercial.
- I cannot satisfy everybody, that's the first thing I would tell them. I would tell them also I don't believe that the band is less evident than it was. If you put even 'Temple of Knowledge' with the new albums productionsvise is not comparable. It sound so small and now it sounds so big, there is a big difference in sound. It's more accessible than before I think so but I'm not 18 yo anymore doing the crazy, crazy shit. I mean we could still do it if we we wanted to. I think this band could still do the most brutal music in the world, but that is not something we feel we should do. I think our fans have grown with us with every record they follow us and they appreciate what we do. The prove that the band is better than it was is we are selling a lot more records. I think we have not lost our fans from the early days, they are still coming to our shows and we still play the old stuff live. I think a band sells out when they dont't play any song from their past, just their new album all the time. We still play songs from our first album live.
I think that percent of ppl who say that is very small now, it's not like before when it was 50-50% when started to do all this changes in the band. If you like 'Sourcery' I don't see how can't you like Shadows & Dust, it is melodic also. The only album that is not melodic of Kataklysm is 'Temple of Knowledge' which is a very technical record but the only song that is very popular from that album is 'The Awakener' and that song is melodic. I think the ppl who say the old Kataklysm was better is because they like our ex-vocalist Silvian better, I think they are fans of him. But then they are not really fans of Kataklysm because there is no way the music is less good now than it was. We are better musicians now than we were before and that's the truth. We've been doing this for 15 years, the band is much stronger than it was.
- How do you build up the albums, how do you choose which songs come after each other?
- I'm always the one who does that at every album. I don't know why, maybe I have a good ear to place songs. I always see the beginning of the song and the end. I look how it ends and how the next song start, if they fit to each other. If I finish a song in a certain way, the next song should start a certain way to make it right. Because if they don't do that, for example if you put two slow songs in the beginning of the album ppl will be already bored. If you put it in the middle ppl can get a little rest. This is the specific way to organize the whole line-up of the songs. Shadows & Dust seemed a logic song to start the album with. Not just because it is the titletrack but I felt it was the right song. It has a lot groove, usually we always start the album with blastings, this time I said let's make it different, something ppl don't expect.
- You had a song that lyrics is in French, will you write another songs in French again?
- No, I don't think so. It was a killer song for that time, our ex-singer wanted to do that, I agreed so we did it. But that was only specially for that song, I don't think we should do that again. We made that song for the fans back home and I think it should remain that way. Maybe an Italian song.. ha-ha
- Who chose the song 'Shadows & Dust' to make a videoclip from?
- Me. We were supposed to do the video from the second song 'Beyond Salvation', but the problem is it is too long, almost 5 minutes long. It was too long to play on tv in the metal shows. So, we had to choose another one and I came up with 'Shadows & Dust' and everybody agreed.
It was filmed in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium, it's a simple video, but it brings the point. We wanted something that reflects the artwork of the album, like fire and stuff like that, so we used some effect and I think it came out ok.
- The cover was made by the same artist who made the cover of Epic, his style is recognizable.
- Yes, he worked with Hypocrisy and Dimmu Borgir too. NB didn't like the guy we were using before so they said let's get this guy. I was very satisfied with his work on Epic and he did a really nice cover for this album too. I gave him ideas, I gave him the title of the album, I tell him about the subject and then he made same sketches. So far the first two covers he made we're taking them right away. The cover of Shadows & Dust represent humanity.
- In the last three years you've released a new album almost at the same time of the year. How did it come?
- NB wanted that. We did the Prophecy album and that went really well for Kataklysm, then we made a tour with Destruction when we played in Hungary too. So NB said let's make an another record right the way. So we capitalized on the hype of the band. We did Epic and they were telling us we did a really killer record. I think what we achieved on Epic was really good for us it pushed us to another level. Then they said 'now the band is very close of becoming a pretty big band' and I thought we need another album. As I said we write fast and we had most of the material done I asked for one more month before we could enter the studio. They gave us the time and we did it finally. When they received it they freaked out, they liked it and they did a really big push to this album. We are on tour since August an we are gonna finish next summer. We did a tour in the States in August, then in September - October a Canadian tour with 15 shows, we spent November at home, in December we are here in Europe, next year in February-March we are going to play in the US again with Hate Eternal and Dying Fetus, then we may with Hypocrisy hit the US again, then Wacken and some other festival gigs in the summer. And they already asked us to come back to Europe in September but I think that would be a bit too much.
- Somewhere I've read that playing at the Wacken Open Air was some kind of a dream of yours...
-Yes, we waited a long time for it. I think we deserve to play at such a big festival and now we are among the first band that has been confirmed. We played at With Full Force in 2001 and that was a killer show. We will see how it goes if it is worth, if the is demand is big, to come back to play in Europe in the autumn. I know one fact for sure, we are not gonna do another record in 2003. Shadows & Dust is a big album and I think we have to wait now at least 1,5 years. I think if we release and album soon we would end up till the end of 2004. We already have two new songs and they are killers. We are very anxious to record a next album already but we want to take our time and do the right moves, you know. 4 albums in 4 years is too much. You need some time to breath, even the fans were surprised when one year later, after Epic we already come out with a new album, ppl still buying that record. Shadows & Dust is a big album, it's not been like this for us ever, so now we have to take it easy and take our time to next one.
- You are touring a lot now, have you thought about putting a DVD or live album together?
- Not for now. Last year at the With Full Force some of our songs had been recorded for the WFF DVD, that's all.
- We already talked about that you are touring a lot with different bands, but is there any band you would like to play together?
- Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower. These are the two bands I always admired, they influenced us a lot in the early days. Carcass is unfortunately not around anymore. It was fun to play with all the bands so far, just my personal favourite would be Napalm Death.
- Do you like to play in smaller or bigger venues?
- Kataklysm is doing the same show if there is 10 or 2000 ppl. I prefer to play on smaller stages before because we were not comfortable to play on big stages but now we've done so many gig on big stages, we are used to it. But I rather play for 10 ppl who are going insane. I hate when ppl are just standing and there is no reaction.
- 'Shadows & Dust' has a great reception, what do you think what is ahead of the band now?
- I don't think the band will write less good albums as we've been doing now. I think if the fans will stick around that's fine, but if they don't, they don't but the band, I know, have a couple of more records ahead. That will be very intersting to pushing the limits still. I don't know if we will be around at 50 yo still doing this. Maybe for a couple of more years we can do this, 10-15 years or so more than that I don't think so. Maybe just do records but not touring. It depends. It's a very difficult question to answer right now, when the band is doing very well.
I thik we have a couple of more years ahead of us, touringwise I'm not sure. It is very difficult with this system to this. For example the blast beats our drummer does are difficult and I don't know if he can do it in 10 years or we will get a slower band. We will see. We still have two records on the NB contract before that expires we will see what happens after that.
- Thanks for the interview, finish as you wish.
- We are very interested in return to Hungary. It's a country that has always open arms for us. We took only two shows there but those were memorable. Between the songs the crowd was shouting our name Kataklysm and that was something special to see. But all the other countries in Eastern Europe where we played was a great place for us. We always tell our agent we want to play in this areas. If we come back to Europe next time and they want us to play ther we will back. I hope I can keep my promise. Thank you to Hungary and hopefully we see you soon.
Read about Epic and Shadows & Dust among the UM reviews: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=48
Read a live review on the Anti Xmas festival: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=67164
All Hail the Mighty Kataklysm!!!! They are in my mind, the most influential band I have ever heard.....I mean, come on. Every album they release insites pandemonium and fury, as well as a new-found love for extreme metal amongst everyone I know. There just aren't too many bands out there now that constantly keep it this good album to album.......and for all those who don't know............do not die a pathetic loser.........Buy or DIE! This band knows how to keep it real, and of all the bands I listen to (300+ easily), these guys are tops....BARRING NONE.
