Metal Assault recently conducted an interview with KATAKLYSM guitarist Jean Francois Dagenais at the Ozzfest kick off in San Bernardino CA. In the interview Dagenais talks about Ozzfest, playing on DEVILDRIVER’s tour, the band’s new album Heaven’s Venom, missing Wacken, and more. Read excerpts from the interview below:

Metal Assault: You just finished playing here at the Ozzfest kick-off. How was it?

Dagenais: “It was fun. I was surprised so many people were there in the afternoon, because I was expecting it to be a little more empty than it was. When I walked on stage, I saw a pretty packed field and it was pretty impressive. It was a fun experience, good crew and everything in general. It's the first day here and I'm glad we're doing this tour. It's great.”

Metal Assault: With DevilDriver you are playing these off dates. I think you're getting to play a longer set in those shows. How are those shows going?

Dagenais: “Yeah they are going great. We did three already so far. We did San Francisco, San Diego and Tempe. So far so good, and yes we are playing longer, so it's great. It's fun to do a big show like Ozzfest. It's always cool to have that party atmosphere. Everyone's drinking everywhere and it's a great time.”

Metal Assault: Your latest album, Heaven's Venom, is coming out very soon. How would you sum it up?

Dagenais: “To me it's probably my favourite Kataklysm record so far. I'm really happy with it. I'm still listening to it and enjoying it. That's a good sign because usually after a few months of studio work I'm like; I could have done that part better. It's not like that on this record and I'm really proud and happy about it so far.”

Metal Assault: This year you guys missed Wacken because of a scheduling conflict. Were you disappointed?

Dagenais: “Yeah, but we'll get to play next year. To me it's not a real loss because you can't play Wacken every year. It's their rule. If you play one year, you can't play the next one. I think it's even better to do it next year because the new album would be out for a year, and also they promised us a better time slot on the show. So everything is positive for next year. Our schedule is already so full this year that I think it's better that way. We don't want to get there burnt, leave the next day and have to fly to the other side of the world. That wouldn't really make much sense.”

To read the full interview go here

As previously reported Kataklysm recently shot a video for the song 'Push The Venom' with director Ivan Colic (TYPE O NEGATIVE, UNLEASHED, DEATHSTARS, EX DEO) in Belgrade, Serbia. The video can now be viewed below.

Kataklysm have also made their new album, Heaven’s Venom, available for streaming in it’s entirety on their MySpace page.

Heaven’s Venom was released on August 13th in Europe and will be released August 24th in North America.

Heaven’s Venom tracklisting:

'A Soulless God'

'Determined (Vows Of Vengeance)'

'Faith Made Of Shrapnel'

'Push The Venom'

'Hail The Renegade'

'As The Walls Collapse'

'Numb & Intoxicated'

'At The Edge Of The World'

'Suicide River'

'Blind Savior'