Exclusive Podcast: Kataklysm Frontman Maurizio Iacono

Maybe Kataklysm were too far ahead of the curve. Or maybe they’re just too determined to do things their own way. When the Canadian death metal band formed in the fall of 1991, they were playing hyper-speed death metal long before most bands even discovered blast beats. At the time, the uninitiated were bewildered by Kataklysm’s extreme sounds, but a select crowd grasped what they were doing and scurried to their side. These allies included Nuclear Blast Records, which signed the group in 2003. Still, the dominant death metal bands at the time, such as Death and Obituary, were playing slower, less complex music and many underground fans continued to shun Kataklysm. Then, when blazing rhythms and roaring blast beats became part of the death metal vernacular, Kataklysm changed again. With their fourth album, Victims of This Fallen World, the band employed slower, more tuneful structures reminiscent of Swedish acts like In Flames and At the Gates. Many of Katakly...