Chabtan Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording the recording and release of the new album?

Hey there ! First, we have had some nice reviews of our new album “Nine Levels” and a lot of support messages which means a lot for us. We also had the pleasure to play on stage for the first time some new songs. It was sick!


2.In April you had released a new album, what are some of the things the band did differently on this recording that you where not able to do with your previous releases?

The writing process of this album was actually close to what we did for the previous one. We always work the same way : Jean-Philippe and Dimitri (the guitar players) write the basis of the songs (the melodies and the guitar parts) then we do some musical arrangement during rehearsals. The only difference is that we have a new drummer (Charles Philly) who is a professional musician. He is very good in programming samples and creating atmospheres, so we took time to create music with a lot of samples. This guy wrote the music for the video game “Onirism” : it’s a crazy work.


3. Both the band name and lyrics are based upon Aztec, Mayan and Olmec Mythology, can you tell us a little bit more about how you got interested in this topic and also do you have any interest in the mythologies of other culture?

Basically this topic was an idea of our former guitar player Jean-Phillipe. To be honest I didn’t know anything about these civilizations when I was recruited in the band. Today I’m reading some books or articles about Aztecs, Mayan and Olmec. I’m currently reading a book of Bartolomé de las Casas. He was one of the first Christian to strongly condemn the colonizers behavior.


4. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover?

It’s a cover realized by Colin Marks. We are big fans of his job. On this album you can see the God of violent death Ah Puch. I like the way Colin designed him. He really reminds me the “Scarecrow” in Batman. It’s kind of a modern and dark interpretation.


5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

To me our best show was the show we did in Barcelona in 2015. There was a lot of crazy people and the sound was huge. Now we are preparing a new show. We wear some special clothes, put some make-up. We are trying to create an atmosphere which is both very dark and still hardcore rooted.


6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Touring is too expensive for us. So we are planning some shows but we cannot do a real tour for now. Maybe in the future. We are open to all proposals !


7. The new album was released on 'DarkTunes Music Group', can you tell us a little bit more about how you get in contact with this label?

They gave us an interesting response. They are really behind us and push us to develop our aesthetic more and more. They have also allowed us to develop some new shirts and realized our lyrics videos for free. That’s really cool. Many labels ask you money to do things and Dark Tunes are not like this, we appreciate it.


8. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

Well. I  really don't know. Many reviews say that our music is cool so I think fans of extreme music like our stuff. We are not a famous band so many fans of extreme music still don’t know us. So spread the word !Everybody must know that a Mayan demonic war is coming to crush our world !


9. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Musically we will continue to develop atmospheres and a conceptual approach. I would like to write a record from an historic point of view, about the meeting of Europeans colonizers with the people from what we nowadays call “South America”. We could make a metal album with traditional Mayan and Aztec instruments and instruments from the Europe on XV or XVI’s century.


10. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

In the band we are all fans of death metal and heavy metal. There are many bands that we like but I don’t know if they really are an audible influence for someone who is listening to our music. Obviously you can feel when you listen to our music that we are fans of In Flames, but I don’t think that you can imagine we are fans of The Faceless, Cryptopsy or Textures.


11. What are some of your non-musical interests?

Philosophy is definitely the thing I enjoy the most in my life. And I think that we will use some references to philosophers in our next album. A lot of them wrote about the meeting of Mayan and Aztec with colonizers. To John Lock they are barbarians without morality; to Montaigne they are no more barbarians than us; to the optimistic philosophy of Leibniz we live in the best of the possible worlds so Mayan and Aztec have an “instinct of morality”. When Europeans met Americans they really discovered a “New World” and discovering a New World begets many different views on it.


12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thank you very much. I hope to see you on stage very soon.