Kataklysm has got to be one of the hardest working bands out there. Since the release of In The Arms of Devastation in 2006, the band has toured relentlessly across the States and overseas. Not only did they promote ITAOD, but they found time to write and record ten new songs for their latest release, Prevail. A hard driving, kick in the teeth CD, which displays more tightness and togetherness than ever before. The songs are richer and have a lot of feeling, and to hear them performed live puts another twist on them. The energy that the band puts into the new songs will drive any non-headbanger to convert to the death side of metal.
Fears caught up with the band during one of the stops of the Summer Slaughter tour featuring The Black Dahlia Murder, veteran band Vader and a host of others. On this particular Florida day, our typical summer storms rolled in. They subsided briefly then threatened throughout the night. Due to the uncertainty of the weather, it was decided that headliner, The Black Dahlia Murder, would perform before Kataklysm to ensure that the majority of the audience would get to see the tour’s top billed band.
During TBDM set, the rain began, but nothing which caused the performance to be halted. The band played its entire set, although I believe things were being rushed in order for Kataklysm to have the opportunity to play. After TBDM completed their set, combined crews hastily set the stage for the night’s final act. The rains started to get harder, but not enough to stop the show. To my amazement though, three-quarters of the audience left. Employees of the venue were yelling that Kataklysm had yet to play and were due on stage any moment. However, their announcements had no affect as the crowd continued to make their way through the gates. This was somewhat shocking to witness, to say the least.
For the fans, the true fans, that weathered the climate, they were treated to one heck of a metal show. Lead vocalist Maurizio Iacono made it known to all, that the band appreciated those who stayed and they (the band) were going give their fans what they came to see – a fucking great performance.
Enjoy our conversation with lead guitarist J-F Dagenais and be sure to catch him and the rest of the band during their upcoming headlining tour which J-F speaks about during the interview.
Fears Magazine: With the latest release, Prevail, how did Kataklysm go about surpassing the success of its last release, In the Arms of Devastation, making something good even better, so-to-speak? J-F Dagenais: I don’t think we tried to make it better; we just tried to keep going. With Prevail, we’re really proud of the album itself and so far, the sales are improving already from the last one. So this is amazing. We did some crazy chart number over in Europe. We were like top 15 in Germany. We did like position 38 in Switzerland and position 83 or 84 in Austria and that’s like the top 100 charts of the whole country. It’s really an amazing number for a death metal band. Here in America we did very well in the first week selling like twenty-five hundred copies and it keeps selling like a thousand units a week. So about now (at the time of this interview), we’re really close to about seven thousand already and it’s really, really great for a death metal band and it seems it’s like selling faster than In the Arms…. Cause In the Arms… started really slow in the beginning and it picked up like a year later; it started really selling because of the touring we did for it and it’s still selling now, but it picked up late and this album (Prevail) is selling well from the start and we’re excited to see how far it’s going to go.
Fears: In order to move forward and grow, a band must try new things, but remain close to its roots at the same time. How does Kataklysm accomplish this?
...We want to make our tour more metal...
J-F: The way I see it, it’s like every album is different and we want to make it different every time. We don’t want to repeat ourselves or be like those bands that think that since their last album was successful, they’re going to just repeat it. We didn’t want to do that. We try to do something every time and to make it have its own identity and its own sound. I think we achieved that on the new album and we’re all happy about the songs. The songs are made for live (performances) cause we are a touring band so we wanted songs that will stand the test of time and that will work really well in a live situation. We worked towards that aspect. That was like our main goal behind this new album.
Fears:Prevail has a richer sound and the songs appear to have more complexity. Was this something that you all set out to do?
J-F: It’s a little more over the top than the last one, playing-wise, and a little more intricate. The last one was more simplistic in song structure but on this one we wanted it more intricate. I think the arrangements are more complex and more intricate.
Fears: What is the mission statement of Prevail? Was there something specific the band wanted to say to its fans and the metal genre?
J-F: As far as Prevail and what it really means is…I mean we’ve been around since ‘90/’91 doing album after album and tours and tours and we’ve seen bands come and go and get split up and broken up and we’re still here playing this music. We’re still loving it and for us, that’s what the main concept was behind Prevail. It’s like saying, “We’re still here and standing. I think we’re here for many years to come.” That was the main statement for Prevail.
Fears: Fortunately, Kataklysm has had minimal lineup changes and has maintained its current lineup for some years. I’m sure that if one of you all left, another musician could step in and play or sing the songs - maybe not as well, but could. How does losing a member affect bands?
J-F: When a band member leaves, it always changes the band. For us, the chemistry is really us four. With Max on drums, me, Stephane (Barbe) and Maurizio, we’ve been together for years. With Serenity in Fire, we had a different drummer and it changed the whole chemistry for that record. I feel we lost something on that album just because Max wasn’t there. This band is us four and it’s really something special that we have and the music we write together; it sounds like Kataklysm. Like if you change a member or two, it will sound different. I think the unity of us four makes us unique.
Fears: When it comes down to decision making, is it a democracy setting or does the majority rule? Will each member give a little when tense situations arise?
J-F: Everybody has the right to say whatever they want. I think the big thing is that no one in our band has a really big ego. Let’s say I bring a riff and the others don’t like it, I’m just like, “Fuck it.” I’m not gonna fight that much for it or vise versa.
Fears: Even if you think it is really good? J-F: Eh, I’ll keep it for myself or sometimes I’ll bring a riff that no one likes and then I’ll bring it again two years later and they’re like, “Oh yeah, this is awesome.” No one remembers what it was (laughing). Maurizio used to play bass for the band before singing and he plays the guitar so he brings his own riffs, I have my riffs and Stephane brings his own riffs so we have three different styles of writing. And Max, he’s really a good arranger. He’s really good with picking riffs and piecing things together. So he brings a lot to the song writing. Fears: In the past year or so, Kataklysm has supported bands such as Sworn Enemy, Dimmu Borgir, and Chimaira, when will you all headline your own tour?
J-F: Well, we’re actually talking about doing this in October. So that’s going to be our first headlining tour in a while here in America and everybody in the industry thinks we’re ready so we’re going to try it.
Fears: Has it strictly been because of record sales that a headlining tour has not happened in some time?
J-F: It’s record sales and also having interest enough that people will come and pack the rooms when we tour. We tried a headliner tour about five or six years ago and didn’t do that well. We did maybe like maybe 80 people to 150 people a night and in this industry that isn’t enough when you’re headlining to do these numbers. You need to be able to do between, like at least, 350 to 500 people and that’s considered like a good headlining band. So we tried it and we saw that we weren’t ready so we said let’s just keep on supporting big bands and when we feel we’re ready again, we’ll try it again and that’s what we’re going to do in October.
Fears: Then I pose this question to you, why now do you feel the band is ready to take the next step?
J-F: Cause we’ve started to see that after all the tours that we have a lot of people coming only to see us and they don’t care about the other bands; so that’s a good sign to be able to say I think we’re ready. And you also feel it when we play. You’re like okay, people are here for us. They know the lyrics, they know the songs, we’re selling good on t-shirts, everything seems fine and people are tired to see us (only) a half-n-hour. They want to see more. They want to see a lot of other songs we’re not able to play because we play only short sets. We feel that it’s time so we’re gonna try it in October and we’re gonna have a bunch of bands on the tour like Dying Fetus is gonna be there and other bands. It’s going to be interesting package and we want to make our tour more metal. A lot of the tours we’ve done have been like different styles. Like more hardcore or more like metalcore or whatever and on this package we’re headlining and we told the agent we want to make it a big metal package. So we’re hoping everything is going to go well, but I think it’s time for Kataklysm to headline.
Fears: I’ve gotta ask. Attached to the tour bus is the trailer which contains all of the band’s equipment. On the sides are enlarged images of you. How did this come about and does it feel to be the poster boy for Kataklysm (laughing).
J-F: (chuckling) It’s was a little weird. I was like, “argh.”
Fears: Is this something that you consented to or was it consented for you?
Perfection is hard to achieve, but that's what we're trying to achieve...
J-F: It’s for Washburn (guitars) and Randall (amplifiers) and they are our sponsors and they gave us money actually to have the trailer wrapped. It’s publicity for us and for them. So we said, “Yeah, yeah, it’s great lets do it.” But we thought it would look like the cover artwork or like amplifiers and guitars and then there it is, a trailer with my face on it and I was like, “Awww.” It’s a little much, but I guess it’s cool. It’s just weird because it’s me. If it was another band member, I would be like, “Yeah.” (laughing)
Fears: Throughout a band’s career, there are going to be those signature songs. For Kataklysm thus far, those songs are, “As I Slither,” “Shadows and Dust,” “Crippled and Broken,” “Let them Burn,” as well as a few others. With Prevail, which song or songs do you feel will be the standouts and do you go into the studio with the conscious thought of creating one or two standouts?
J-F: So far it looks like the first song, “Prevail,” is going to be a big one. We’ve done over 20 shows with this new album and so far it looks like “Prevail” is standing out and taking the world by storm. “As Death Lingers” does really well and “The Chains of Power.” I think we’ll be able to tell in a few months which one is really gonna stick. But like so far, the “Prevail” song I think is going to be a big one. Fears: For those fans that may not be able to attend the Summer Slaughter tour, an added live DVD has been included in Prevail. Please explain how this welcomed bonus came about.
J-F: This was like on the Chimaira tour we had a day off and there’s like the Deep Rock Drive organization in Las Vegas and they called us to see if we wanted to do a show for them. It’s a show only for the internet and it’s a show where people can log in and pay like five bucks and watch a show online and you can talk to the bands and ask questions and stuff like that. The cool thing is...this was meant to be for people that live in foreign countries we’re never going to tour. They want to see bands so they can just go on there and they can see it live. It’s a good setup. It looks good. Sounds good. We’re like, “Fuck yeah, lets do it. Lets try it.”
Fears: What were the numbers like in terms of people who watched it via the internet?
J-F: We had over, on that day, we had over three or four thousand people that logged in to see it.
Fears: When I watched the DVD, I noticed that song requests were being displayed on monitors. Was the set strictly driven by the requests of the individuals who were logged in or did you all have a predetermined song list? J-F: No, no, it was the internet. They were asking for the songs.
Fears: About thirty lucky persons were chosen to attend the show. There were parts that it appeared they were not fully into the show. Was that the case?
J-F: Yeah, they were going off. For us, it doesn’t really matter how many people are there. We’ll play, even if there’s three people in front, we’ll give our best. I think they deserve to see the best from the band.
Fears: How was the overall experience?
J-F: It was just weird to play for cameras. It felt like a TV show (chuckles) when we were doing it.
Fears: J-F, what is Kataklysm’s purpose? What has been the band’s goal since forming?
J-F: We’re trying to keep metal the way it should be, in my opinion, more like classic traditional metal. We’re like from the early nineties and we grew up being fans of all the early nineties metal like Carcass and Napalm Death and to us, that was more of the real metal in that era and we’re trying to keep it that way. But still at the same time, keep everything modern. That’s mainly our goal.
Fears: What prompted you to pick up the guitar and choose to make playing on the road your profession?
J-F: It started as a hobby like everybody else. I started in the basement trying to play Maiden stuff. It’s always been a hobby ‘til like, I would say the last fours years of Kataklysm when we started to see an actually good income from it and we had so many tour offers and we stay on the road so long that we now see it more like a real band and something serious. We try to make it more professional and more perfect and we try to achieve that. Perfection is hard to achieve, but that’s what we’re trying to achieve for the style of music we’re doing.
Fears: If the opportunity presented itself, who would you most want to jam with?
J-F: I’d say Dave Murray from Maiden. That’s my favorite guitar player of all time.
Fears: What makes him standout from all the other great guitarists?
J-F: He’s not the best technical guitar player, but he just adds so much feel to the music. To me, he’s the one guitar player that plays and the hairs on my arms lift up. He really does it for me.
Fears: On a personal note, what is the hardest part about being a musician and being on the road for long periods of time? J-F: The hardest thing I find with playing music is to keep a family together and that’s important to do. I am a family man and I want to try and make it happen.
Fears: J-F, as always, it has been a pleasure.
J-F: Yeah, yeah thank you. We’ll see you soon in October.
Be sure to check Kataklysm’s website to stay in touch and informed about the happenings of the band.
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Kataklysm has got to be one of the hardest working bands out there. Since the release of In The Arms of Devastation in 2006, the band has toured relentlessly across the States and overseas. Not only did they promote ITAOD, but they found time to write and record ten new songs for their latest release, Prevail. A hard driving, kick in the teeth CD, which displays more tightness and togetherness than ever before. The songs are richer and have a lot of feeling, and to hear them performed live puts another twist on them. The energy that the band puts into the new songs will drive any non-headbanger to convert to the death side of metal.
Fears caught up with the band during one of the stops of the Summer Slaughter tour featuring 
Enjoy our conversation with lead guitarist J-F Dagenais and be sure to catch him and the rest of the band during their upcoming headlining tour which J-F speaks about during the interview.
