By Andrew Bansal
One of the very first bands of their genre hailing from Greece, extreme metal band Rotting Christ began in 1987. Withstanding and overcoming obstacles undeservedly thrown at them because of their name by some staunch Catholics, Rotting Christ has maintained a worldwide cult fan-base. They started out as more of a proto-black metal band in their early years, ventured into different styles and sounds through their career, and moved to an atmospheric, mystical and melodic brand of extreme metal with their past few albums like ‘Sanctus Diavolos’, ‘Theogonia’ and ‘Aealo’. They just released their 11th studio album ‘Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy’, which means ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ and is taken from Aleister Crowley on his writing of the Aeon of Horus. It’s also the same sentence can also be seen on Jim Morrison’s tombstone. The album came out on March 5th via Season Of Mist. Having enjoyed their past albums as well as their one live performance that I got to witness, plus having interviewed frontman Sakis Tolis in the past, this was an album I was looking forward to. I finally got a chance to listen to it thoroughly, and here’s my review of it.
The album begins on an ominous note with a slow tempo, massive sound and ritualistic vocals typical of Rotting Christ. The guitar melodies kick in mid-way through track #1 and soon the song hits top gear with some quintessential black metal-style fast-paced drumming. There’s a lot going on music-wise in this six-and-a-half minute opening tune, and it showcases almost the entire gamut of what Rotting Christ stands for these days in terms of their musicianship. Track #2 has a bit more of a folky vibe to its music and gang-like vocal choruses. The core melody of the tune is again excellently crafted, which allows for the various other elements to revolve around it. From track #3 onwards, the album settles nicely into a flow that’s easy on the ear, and Sakis Tolis once again demonstrates his masterful songwriting. The album is produced and mixed exactly the way it deserves to be, and despite there being a hefty dose of double-bass and blast beats on the drums, it doesn’t overpower the guitar parts at all. The vocal layer sits somewhere in between the lead and rhythm sections, and serves its purpose of creating a ritualistic vibe, at the same time lending aggression to the melody.
All tracks blend with each other pretty well and this is more like one grand 55-minute musical composition rather than 11 different tracks, but one track that does stick out and deserve its separate mention is track #5 ‘Cine iubeşte şi lasă’. This was originally a traditional Romanian song which was then adapted and arranged by Greek musicians Suzana & Eleni Vougioukli. Rotting Christ have taken a portion of the Vougiouklis’ rendition as the intro to their version, and presented a heavy metal interpretation of it. If you really go and listen to different versions of this song on YouTube, you’ll find the variations interesting.
The latter half of the album boasts of some shorter, more compact and hard-hitting tunes like ‘Gilgames’ and ‘Rusalka’, but it ends on a slow, dark and ritualistic note much like the manner in which it began, with ‘Ahura Mazda’ and ‘666’. There’s also a bonus track called ‘Welcome To Hel’, only on the vinyl and the digibox versions of the album. It comprises of some excellent guitar work and is definitely a worthy addition to an already solid album.
Some people might find the album repetitive with the music it offers, but I find that to be a necessary quality in music of this kind, because it takes a certain level of repetition to create the ritualistic atmosphere Rotting Christ aims for. Besides, as long as Sakis Tolis and Rotting Christ continue to be as great at doing their thing as they are on this album, I definitely don’t mind already knowing what to expect. They’re not reinventing the wheel by any means, but they’ve succeeded in building their own niché which grows stronger with every album. Rotting Christ’s new album is a great example in how melodic extreme metal should be done without going the Hot Topic route a la Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Flith and many others. With ‘Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy’, Rotting Christ have strengthened their reputation as one of the most creative metal bands in existence today.
Rating: 9/10
Reecord Label: Season Of Mist
Release Dates:
March 1st 2013 (Europe)
March 5th 2013 (US)
Track Listing:
1. In Yumen – Xibalba
2. P’unchaw kachun – Tuta kachun
3. Grandis Spiritus Diavolos
4. Κατάτον Δαίμονα Ἐαυτοὗ (“Kata Ton Daimona Eaftou”)
5. Cine iubeşte şi lasă
6. Iwa Voodoo
7. Gilgameš
8. Русалка (“Rusalka”)
9. Ahura Mazdā-Aŋra Mainiuu
10. Χ Ξ Σ (“666”)
11. Welcome To Hel (bonus track vinyl & Digibox)
Links:
www.rotting-christ.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Rotting-Christ/290468585669