KATAKLYSM frontman Maurizio Iacono has opened up about the death metal band's transformation from chaotic underground extremity to the "controlled chaos" sound it's known for today, in a new Blabbermouth.net interview timed to the band's 35th anniversary and their upcoming North American tour supporting SIX FEET UNDER.
Iacono took over as KATAKLYSM's vocalist in 1998 after original singer Sylvain Houde left the band, a transition Iacono said forced a total rethink of the group's direction. Houde's delivery on albums like 1995's "Sorcery" and 1996's "Temple Of Knowledge (Kataklysm Part III)" was, in Iacono's words, too crazy to follow: "There was no rhythm. There was a tempo to follow, but it was all in his mind." Rather than chase that unpredictability, Iacono said the band "took a step back, reexamined the band and restructured it," steering toward the groove-laden, chorus-driven death metal that would define albums like "Epic (The Poetry Of War)," "Shadows & Dust" and "In The Arms Of Devastation." Iacono traced part of that shift to an unlikely influence: METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton's playing on "(Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth" inspired him to build songs like "The Awakener" around bass. "We were really thinking outside the box at the time," he said.
Iacono also recalled how KATAKLYSM landed its deal with Nuclear Blast, the label the band remains on more than three decades later and reportedly its longest-tenured act. He said much of the label's staff dismissed the demo he sent in as unlistenable: "The entire office was like, 'You can't sign this garbage. It's not music.'" Founder Markus Staiger disagreed, signing the band off that same tape and pushing to release 1993's "The Mystical Gate Of Reincarnation" EP, which became one of Nuclear Blast's best-selling EPs for years. "We are the longest-standing band on the label," Iacono said. "They want us to release a record to mark the label's 40th anniversary. Dude, I've outlasted the owners."
Looking ahead, Iacono said KATAKLYSM, currently three years removed from 2022's "Goliath," plans to return to writing as a full band this fall for the first time in years, gathering at a studio he built on his property in Florida instead of trading files remotely. Guitarist J-F Dagenais, bassist Stéph Barbe and drummer James Payne are scattered across Texas, Canada and Los Angeles. The band intends to livestream parts of the songwriting sessions for fans, with a new album targeted for release by the end of next year.