ROTTING CHRIST

What does this band play? Ask something easier. They have had elements of black metal; on early demos and singles even death metal crept in, doom could be heard in places, and critics and reviewers, to spare themselves the trouble, have long called them dark metal. They change their style on practically every album — or rather, he does, because the ROTTING CHRIST project can rightfully be identified with the persona of Sakis Tolis. Before us is the ninth studio album from the aforementioned collective, released on January 22, 2007, in the year of the twentieth anniversary of the only metal band from Greece to have achieved recognition on both sides of the ocean. Let's start listening. The first composition: a black metal foundation interspersed with vocal passages that have essentially nothing black about them. There aren't many keyboards on the album, but choirs appear in every song — in the first track they are especially prominent on the chorus. "Χάος Γένετο" flows organically into "Keravnos Kivernitos" with those measured, repeating riffs so characteristic of the band, played by both guitars in parallel. Then comes "Enuma Elish" with the classic synchronization of the drummer's hits and the guitarist's riffs, evoking the sensation of a pagan ritual; chanting reminiscent of DEAD CAN DANCE in "Nemecic." In short, before us are the same old ROTTING CHRIST, combining completely different musical directions in completely unexpected ratios and variations. The heavy "Phobos' Synagogue" gives way to the absolutely heavy metal, swift "Gaia Tellus." Though the heavy metal component is present only at the start, while the ending is quite epic. The short "Rege Diabolicus" is built almost entirely on vocals. Following such a varied palette comes the very dark and somehow utterly hopeless — arguably the most beautiful composition on the album — "He, The Aethyr." "Helios Hyperion" generally matches the spirit of the preceding track. The disc closes with "Threnody," the only track on the album exceeding 5 minutes. It feels somehow completely detached, reminiscent of a hymn — and indeed, if you read the lyrics, it clearly is one! For pathological devotees of orthodox black metal, there is naturally nothing to hear here, but for all who value originality, experimental moments, music at the crossroads of genres and styles, diversity in sound, and of course quality recording, this disc simply must be in your collection.