Chariots of the Gods is straight up, balls to the walls, in your face Heavy Metal. With blistering solos, gripping melodies & harmonies, rioting vocals and drums that just won’t quit, this is what it's all about. So guitarist Dimitri Gervais discussed the band's latest release and so much more!
1. What type of band are you?
Dimitri: CHARIOTS OF THE GODS is a 5-piece, that being RENAUD JOBIN on vocals, MATHIEU ST-AMOUR on guitar, DIMITRI GERVAIS (myself) on guitar, RICH O'NEIL on drums and PAYAM DORYANI on bass. We're a metal band from Ottawa, Canada, and our music can be qualified as ''Melodic Death-core Thrash'', even though to us it’s a much bigger blend of different musical styles.
2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Dimitri: We've been around since 2007, touring and paying our dues. The band initially had former guitarist Chris C. and bassist Chris C in the lineup. We went in the studio in 2010 to record our first EP called “Reverence”. Chris M. then left for personal reasons, so we recruited Payam (bass) from another local band. Not long after that, Chris C. also had to leave, so, since I was a longtime friend of the band, I stepped in on guitar. We played MORE shows, practiced real hard and recorded our first full-length album “TIDES OF WAR”, which is going to be released on January 29, 2013!
3. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Dimitri: ''Chariots of the Gods?'' is a book written by Erich von Däniken, talking about the hypothesis that the technologies and religions of many ancient civilizations were given to them by ancient astronauts who were welcomed as gods. It's one of the many late-night-discussion topics that we were always interested in talking about. You know,these conspiracy theories and all... Freaky cool stuff lol. Mat and Chris (previous bass player) came out with the name. You can also tie many of our lyrical themes to that concept.
4. How did you come together?
Dimitri: Quite funny, but back in the days, Mat and former guitar player Chris C. got together because they wanted to write a song about their common friend’s humongous penis. Little did they know that this friend would become the band’s first bass player!
5. You guys have a unique sound, which bands would you say influence you the most?
Dimitri: IN FLAMES is a big influence of ours. You can hear lots of TRIVIUM and AS I LAY DYING in the blend as well, and also some vocal elements from bands like AUGUST BURNS RED and UNDEROATH. Of course, there are bands like CHILDREN OF BODOM, NORTHER, ANNIHILATOR.
6. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
Dimitri: As far as the music is concerned, the riffs and the song's structures are from Mat (guitar) for the most part. He's nonetheless always very open about us throwing ideas and making suggestions. He also wrote about half of the album's lyrics, the rest being Renaud's (vocals). In the future, Renaud intends to write more. The album's concept, the ''tides of war'', gave us a theme that was large enough to build songs upon. In each song you can find this theme; this ongoing battle that comes and goes, humanity’s need for war, throughout history or personal conflict.
7. How does it feel to have your debut release completed and out for everyone to hear?Dimitri: It's actually a pretty good feeling, because when you spend so much time and effort on a thing like this, you loose your objectivity towards the product along the way, and so having people's feedback really helps in reassuring ourselves that we made the right decisions.
8. What was the inspiration for the album name "Tides of War"?
Dimitri: Like I said before, the album's main inspiration is this sort of humanity's need for war. Mat brought it up, and he's a real history maniac. He has a HUGE collection of books and movies, and he's that guy that knows more stuff than anybody else. Him being the main writer, it made total sense that we went in that direction.
9. Tell me about the song "Tides of War".
Dimitri: This is one of the songs on which Mat wrote both the music and the lyrics. The lyrical concept of the song is the story of a beaten/lost warrior, fighting himself and the elements, regaining his strength and marching on back to war ; a war he must fight alone against the Gods.
10. What are your expectations for this CD?
Dimitri: We're hoping that ''TIDES OF WAR'' is going to open more doors and show our progress, determination and that we're a force to be reckoned with, to promoters, the press and the people in the business. We'd like to get more intensively into touring, and that's always the best promotion you can make. There's nothing more effective than spitting some vocals at someone's face at a live show! Meeting new people and discovering new places is always a big thrill.
11. How many band t-shirts including your own bands are in your personal collection?
Dimitri: There was a time when I used to wear bands t-shirts ONLY, but now I don't know, I feel like I'm somewhere else in life, you know haha? I have a few bands t-shirts, but I'm a bit picky about them; I kinda prefer the classic rock or punk rock/rockabilly ones. I have a Ramones t-shirt that I really dig. I must admit that I don't even wear my own band's t-shirts!
12. What type of daily attire can you be caught in, casual wear or the band t-shirt and jeans combo or neither?
Dimitri: First off, I won't leave the house without my pair of Converse Chucks! I've been wearing the classic black ones pimped out with black laces for years; I must be up to my sixth pair or something! I dress in a pretty casual way that usually consists of dark jeans, long sleeve shirts and plain t-shirts. Most of my wardrobe is either black or grey.
13. What is your favorite type of mosh pit, circle pits, wall of death, or typical pushing and shoving?
Dimitri: I myself am not much of a pit guy; I'm that dude in the back that listens, watches and analyzes the show. But from a performer's perspective, all these things that crowds do are great, because it shows in its purest form their love for the music, and that they're actually having a good time. I must admit that a wall of death is something really special though, because it's some kind of energy build up waiting to get unleashed. We also had the crowd to bounce, and that was pretty wicked.
14. What are your upcoming plans for 2013?
Dimitri: More touring, of course, and eventually, even though that's probably not going to happen in 2013, record another album. We've got ideas floating around and we're toying with new riffs. We also have another video idea in the works.
15. Anything else you want to say to your fans?
Dimitri: Thanks for reading this interview, and keep coming at the live shows! You can also download FOR FREE our first single on Viinyl at http://chariotsofthegods.viinyl.com, and pre-order the album and buy merchandise on Bandcamp at http://chariotsofthegods.bandcamp.com. After the release, you can check us out on iTunes and a bunch of online stores. There's also going to be our own online store at http://www.chariotsofthegods.net
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