Chariots of the Gods is on a journey – delivering balls-to-the-walls, in-your-face heavy metal. Known for blistering solos, gripping melodies, rioting vocals and drums that just won’t quit, Chariots of the Gods is doing it, and doing it well!
After supporting an amazing plethora of kick-ass artists (Misfits, Voivod, Despised Icon, Kataklysm, The Agonist) Chariots of the Gods is now ready to unveil, Tides of War. It is one skull-crushing album that if you haven’t had the chance to check it out, you are doing yourself a disservice. Click here to see what RockRevolt thought about it.
After reviewing the album, we managed to hunt down guitarists Dimitri and Mathieu to discuss their album and the creative process that led up to it.
You guys have been around for almost six years. Would you say your musical direction has changed any since the early days with Christian and Christian?
Matt: The style has definitely changed but kept some of the same elements. It evolved naturally I guess. We just grew as musicians, learned new techniques, and listened to different kinds of music. With me being the main writer, I’m often influenced by stuff I’ve heard. Depending on what mood I’m in or what I’ve listened to, that can creep into the songs too. I definitely think the album we’ve put out now is more mature than the previous EP we did.
Dimitri: Yeah. When you grow up, it’s not as much about what more can you do, but what less can you do, in a way, you know? We’ve focused more on making good songs than just showing off.
You recently released your first full length album, Tides of War, which I loved. What was it like working with Glen Robinson as a producer?
Matt: Actually pretty cool man. It was a great to work with a guy that has that caliber of experience. Glen is a pretty down to earth guy. We got to know him well and have a relationship with him as friends; it took some of the pressure off. After a big day of work, you could go to a restaurant with him and just talk shit about whatever. Yeah that was a nice experience. He’s a really great producer. He really pushes you to get the best out of you.
Dimitri: He’s pretty old school. He relies more on the performance of the artist rather than just fucking off and saying, “Well whatever. We’ll fix it later.” It has to be flawless.
So he’s pretty demanding?
Matt: Oh yeah! He’s pretty demanding, but it pushes you as a player. I think everybody came out a better player out of that.
Dimitri: That’s right. We learned a lot about ourselves. When you rely more on the human beings than machines, you can get that sort of energy that has been well captured on our CD.
When you guys were in the studio, how hands on were you, or do you typically focus more on the music and let the technicians deal with the mix? 
Matt: Actually, we had lots of input. As for the songs, we had done the full album in demo form before and had sent that to Glen to get his input on it. As for being in the studio and giving the engineers space to work and stuff, that was more of a learning curve – learning to let go a bit.
Dimitri: We had our own vision of what we thought the music had to be and sound like and Glen had one too. You’re kind of in between feelings and impulses and reactions, but at the same time you have to step back and think, “Ok, we’re paying the guy to do his job.” Letting go was the biggest thing we had to learn – learning to let go a bit and letting him do his job. In the end we realized that and we’re very happy with the result.
You’re a self-taught guitarist with a long list of influences ranging from Ace Frehley to Zakk Wylde. How has that shaped your musical direction as an artist?
Matt: Having all those different influences really helps when you are a songwriter. As a player, it’s just learning different techniques and genres and stuff like that, but as a writer you’re learning different licks and arrangements and different kinds of sounds, and it really helps. Being self-taught sometimes is a hard road. Sometimes you might need lessons for certain things and it’s hard to get it on your own, and when you figure it out it’s more gratifying because you really mastered it your way and you made it yours. I grew up listening to bands like Sabbath. When I started playing guitar, the first lick I ever learned was “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath and I was like, “Oh my God! Look at me! I’m so good I can play that!” and from there on I grew with different bands. I’ve always listened to a lot of classic rock like AC/DC, Boston, KISS of course. I just acquired a limited edition Ace Frehley Les Paul not too long ago and I’m very proud of that, but with all those classic bands, the more music you listen to, the more it shapes you to be a better player in the end.
When you guys are working up new material, where do you find creative inspiration? What really gets you moving?
Matt: I write most of the stuff. As for influences, it depends. It’s all in the mood I’m in right now or what I’m listening to. There’s no writing process. It happens or it doesn’t happen. It’s like “Oh my God! I’ve got a riff I’ve got to write down, right now, or I’ll forget it.” That riff brings another riff and another riff, and you build from there. When you try to force it, it just doesn’t happen. That’s about it. It’s what I listen to. There’s no special process. Sometimes whatever you hear can be an inspiration for a riff. Sometimes after band practice we’ll be sitting around and a cool riff comes up and we’ll write it down or rearrange it and it becomes something else.
Dimitri: Personally, I’m not the main writer in this band but I still write music on my own. The days where I’m most productive are the days where I’ve been the most productive throughout the day. For example, if I have a good day at work or I’ve been really productive, not just sitting around home bored, that’s when stuff really comes to me.
Matt: I think that’s something that applies to pretty much everything. Once you get the ball rolling and the creative juices are flowing, creativity breeds creativity.
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You guys have had a fairly light touring schedule over the last couple years, mixed with some studio time, of course. With Tides of War is released, are you ramping up for a more aggressive touring schedule and will you be doing any dates in the U.S. this time around?
Dimitri: Yeah actually. This album is really out there, in terms of exposure. We are booked through April, but after that we’re going to work on our summer schedule. Yeah man, we’ll be in the states for sure. We’ll go anywhere! States, Japan, Europe, we don’t care. As long as we have a stage to play, we’ll play. It’s as simple as that.
Matt: Like Dmitri said, the album is getting a lot of good exposure and right now we’re receiving a lot of good offers from people. It’s opening doors, so we’re trying to schedule everything out and talk to a lot of promoters.
Dimitri: Before this album, we had to push a bit more for gigs, and now we’re getting offers. Cool stuff!
Have you got a favorite band, other than Chariots of the Gods? What’s blasting out your headphones these days?
Dimitri: I’m not really listening to any metal that much these days. I’m listening to a lot of Russian Circles, which is instrumental alternative metal.
Matt: As for me, I just listen to a lot of different stuff: old Def Leppard, 80’s rock like AC/DC – different kinds of music. It seems like the older we get, we listen to more different stuff. We’ve definitely broadened our horizons.
Matt, you do the majority of the writing. What’s it like working with Rich O’Neil? He’s such an aggressive up-front kind of drummer and his playing is very prominent in the music. Do you collaborate a lot, or do you mostly come up with everybody’s parts? How does that play out?
Matt: I write on a program on the computer and I arrange the whole song – basically writing the whole thing. I also write drums on there. I usually put very basic drums, like “Oh I got a feel for some halftime drums here,” or, “I’d like that part to be double time there,” and from there everybody learns their part and tweaks them. We just play around and try this/try that.
Dimitri: Matt here is the worst drummer ever. Sometimes he writes impossible stuff. Even though Rich creates 75-80% or more of the drums, we try to keep some of what Matt creates.
Matt: It’s a pleasure working with him. He has a lot of drive – a lot of stamina. We’ll play the same set over and over and he can just play the same thing for 6 hours and never get tired.
That was my last question. Matt, Dmitri, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you for taking a moment to speak with us today!
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