Rotting Christ – Pro Xristou

Releasedate: 24-05-2024
Label: Season of Mist

Intro

Greek metal legends Rotting Christ are back with their 14th studio album “Pro Xristou“, out now! “Pro Xristou”, which means ‘before Christ’ in Greek, pays tribute to the last Pagan kings who resisted against the Christian tide, safeguarding ancient values and knowledge. The album artwork belongs to Thomas Cole (1801 – 1848) and the cover art ‘Destruction’ is part of painting series called ‘The Course of Empire’.

Review

I have always admired the integrity and innovation in Rotting Christ’s sound and “Pro Xristou” is no exception. The album shows us how the band blends their signature blackened death metal sound in the perfect way. As always, there is the harmony of the harshness – mainly through vocals, drums and riffs – and the beautifully arranged melodies, choirs and orchestrations throughout “the record “Pro Xristou”. Combined with a fantastic production and arrangements, all of these elements make “Pro Xristou” another solid record. The album flows beautifully, never leaving space for a dull moment and telling a serious (and sad) story through vocals but also melodies.

“Pro Xristou” comes with some highlights, one of them being the ‘dramatic’ orchestrations and choirs, which are very well-thought and reflect the dark tone of the album and the topic. A great example of this is “La Lettera del Diavolo”, which features fantastic vocals by Amdroniki Skoula, complimenting the harsh vocals by Sakis. This is, in fact, the absolute highlight for me and shows the true essence of Rotting Christ!

Apart from the main theme, “Pro Xristou” has also a nice twist with songs like “The Apostate” and “Yggdrasil”, which pay tribute to the likes of Flavius Claudius Julianus and Nordic mythological kings. Hearing these songs were a nice surprise and shows the diverse palette in this album.

Outro

“Pro Xristou” is another fantastic record! It is definitely in my list of the best of 2024 and definitely recommended to the lovers of this band and this genre.

Line up:

• Sakis Tolis – Guitars and Vocals
• Kostas Foukarakis – Guitars
• Kostas Cheliotis – Bass
• Themis Tolis – Drums

Additional vocals on “La Lettera Del Diavolo” by Amdroniki Skoula
Keyboard performance by Nikos Kerkiras

The Choir Team:
Christina Alexiou
Maria Tsironi
Alexandros Loyziotis
Vasilis Karatzas

Narrations by:
Andrew Liles (The Apostate, Pretty World, Pretty Dies)
Kim Diaz Holm (Yggdrasil)

Links:

Official
Bandcamp