History & Biography The band was formed by teenagers Sakis (vocals and guitar), Jim (bass) and Themis (drums) in late 1987/Early 1988. The chosen style was grindcore. The group had gone as Black Church for three years. Jm Mutilator was the founder of that act. The group presented an extreme sound made up of death metal, grindcore and black metal. Leprosy Of Death and Decline's Return were 1988 and 1989 rehearsal tapes. The 1989 demo Satanas Tedeum, which was a limited edition of 1,500, was followed by a split 7" with Greece-based Sound Pollution. This split contained 19 tracks. Unfortunately, the band’s latest demo added keyboards here courtesy of producer Kostas Stratigopoulos. Sakis was Necromayhem, Jim was Jim Mutilator and Themis Tolis was Necrosauron. An EP, called Passage To Arcturo, was released through Decapitated Records. 2,000 copies were pressed. This featured a new member, Morbid of Necromantia on keyboards. During this period, the band rehearsed in a bunker, with other acts like Nergal or Nordor, in the bowels of Athens. Obscure Plasma released a Rotting Christ and Monumentum split in 1991. Rotting Christ offered a self-cover version. Roberto of Monumentum ran Obscure Plasma. Yet, it was Osmose Productions of France that signed the occult band. The debut full-length was released in 1993. The band had lost its drummer and used a drum machine programmed by producer Anthony Delaportas. Magus Wampyr Daoloth was still on keyboards. The group had been speaking to Euronymous of Mayhem in order to record its album for Deathlike Silence Productions, but the Norwegian businessman had been murdered in 1993. With Euronymous being just another grifter, the Greek boys likely dodged a bullet here. The early black metal tour, Fuck Christ Tour, featuring label-mates Immortal and Blasphemy was next. The band was unhappy from within and without. The live members Stavros Mitropoulos (guitar) and Panayiotis (keyboards) did not impress the rest of the act. Still, the band would hire Panayiotis a couple of years later. Immortal and Blasphemy similarly did not become good friends with the Rotting Christ members. The group opened for Samael in Greece and also played with Ancient Rites. Osmose and Rotting Christ criticised one another and the label declared it would not work with the Greeks anymore. The band did not stay with Osmose and returned to Decapitated Records, which was called Unisound now. Morbid/Magus Wampyr Daoloth left in 1995. He believed the band's style did not suit him any longer. The act was invited to play in Mexico. The third album was on a third label. It featured drummer Necrosavron who was Sakis' brother. The band had moved on to Century Media Records, which was in the midst of a surge thanks to stellar sales of Morgoth CDs. The label signed Rotting Christ to a six-album deal. Moreover, the band’s third was recorded in Germany with producer Andy Classen of Holy Moses. It was reported that the two main members came down with measles during the recording adding a layer of extreme difficulty to the process. The album itself had the band move away from the original style and incorporate heavy metal and goth sounds. An edition of the album featured no less than three cover versions of Kreator songs. These were added to a MLP by Century Media called The Mystical Meeting. Rotting Christ toured with Samael and Moonspell, which were former and current label-mates. Jim Mutilator and Themis were absent. Mutilator would not return to the fold. Guitarist Costas Vassilakopoulos was on guitar here and can be seen on the In Domine Sathana video later as well. Markus Freiwald of Despair drummed.
A Dead Poem dragged the band further into atmospheric and goth territory. Xy of Samael was on keyboards and studio knobs. The label reported that "... the band were able to escape the tag of black metal and find their own style, which can perhaps best be referred to as Dark Metal." Singer Fernando of Moonspell was also heard on a song. To go with the more commercial sounds, the album sported a new logo. The CD edition of A Dead Poem included a label compilation called Darkness We Feel. The band played live with Venom, Emperor, Deviser and others. Old Man's Child and Sacramentum opened for Rotting Christ on the road. The group travelled to Turkey and reported that the racist/right-wing terrorist gang Grey Wolves were there to attack members of Rotting Christ, but were deterred by police. Another run was with Tiamat. The Der Perfekte Traum EP, which had a German title, included live tracks, but no Kreator cover versions. Keyboardist Panayotis left and new member George replaced him. Sakis and Themis were the remaining duo for Sleep Of The Angels. The CD version included a bonus track called Moonlight. The group toured North America with Sinister in 1999. With new bassist Andreas in tow, Rotting Christ appeared at Athens’ Rockwave festival alongside Megadeth and Bruce Dickinson. The group toured with Deicide, Behemoth and Ancient Rites. The act also travelled to South America. Mystifier opened for Rotting Christ in Brazil. The new century delivered Khronos (initially dubbed Chronos 666) and Genesis. The former saw the band attempt to capture the extremeness of its earlier albums, but added industrial elements. It was taped by Sakis himself and Hypocrisy's Lars Szoke and mixed by Peter Tägtgren at his Abyss Studio. Its cover artwork was created by Spyros “Seth” from Septic Flesh and depicted the band’s monicker. The band's debut could have been interpreted in the same way. Touring included dates with Vintersorg, Madder Mortem and Tristania. Rotting Christ and Interior on a 23-date European tour in 2001. The band played with Ethereal Blue in November 2002. Poland hosted a show with Enslaved, Asgaard and Dark Tranquillity in 2002. The group opened for Judas Priest, Megadeth and others at the newest edition of Rockwave Festival. Genesis restored the band’s earlier logo. 2009’s Live In Hellas was a first live album and issued in an actual limited edition.
Theogonia was on Napalm Records and mixed English with Greek lyrics. It contained folk pop elements. The album was about the Greek myth of cosmogonia and the creation of the cosmos. Rotten Sound opened for Rotting Christ in Europe in 2007. The band embarked on the Domination Tour alongside Neuraxis, Incantation and Malevolent Creation in 2007. Rotting Christ, November’s Doom and Epicurean announced a run of dates, but Mantic Ritual replaced November's Doom. The band teamed up with Averse Sefira, Immolation and Belphegor for a 26-day American tour. The band and Krisiun teamed up for shows in Iberia in the summer of 2008. Rotting Christ, Paradise Lost and For Ruin announced 2009 gigs. The next album had a Greek title, Aealo meaning catastrophe. The album was recorded at Lunatach Studios in Greece and famously featured guest appearances by Diamanda Galas (covering herself on the track Orders From The Dead) and Primordial singer Alan A. Nemtheanga. The band was exploring its Greek heritage on the album. As such, there was a traditional Greek choir on the record. The group toured North America alongside Abigail Williams, Melechesh and Hate. The last band missed the first date of the tour. A proposed South American tour was cancelled.
Κατά Τον Δαίμονα Εαυτού went a step further and was in Greek. The group did not bother to include its name on the album's cover. The title translated into ‘True To His Spirit.’ The album was announced as Do What Thou Wilt initially. There were lyrics and ideas inspired by Persian lore and a Mayan ritual. The band toured with Darkend, Samael, Melechesh and Keep Of Kalessin. Rotting Christ also ventured into South Asia. Megadeth was to headline the Hell And Heaven Metal Fest, on Saturday, November 19th 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Other bands on the bill included Dark Funeral, Wehrmacht and Vital Remains. Megadeth had refused to play in Europe with Rotting Christ in 2005 due to the latter band’s Satanic name. Sakis Tolis responded by saying he feels sorry for Dave Mustaine and that the American is obviously not free or metal. The band signed with Season Of Mist in 2005. Rotting Christ announced that the line-up from its first three albums, Sakis Tolis, Themis Tolis, Mutilator, and George Zacharopoulos, would appear at the Nuclear War Now! festival in Berlin, Germany to play material from those releases. The occasion would have been the act's ostensible 1,000th gig. This ended up being a show with 2012 members instead! De Profundis opened for Rotting Christ on its Aealo tour of Eastern Europe in 2012. Lucifer's Child was founded as a side-project by George Emmanuel, the concert guitarist of Rotting Christ, and Nightfall bassist Stathis Ridis in 2013. The group also landed in Cyprus where Germany-based Ctulu opened. The live album Lucifer Over Athens was issued in 2015, but originated from 2013. Necronomicon, Marduk and Rotting Christ were touring North America in 2016. The tour included a stop at the first annual New Orleans Metal Festival in September. The gang created a fictional poster for a band called Χ Ξ Σ in South Africa in 2016. It obtained an entry visa into the country by claiming the fictional band's name as its own. The band's 2013 album contained a song called Χ ξ ς. The 2018 EP The Call claimed to commemorate the band’s 30th anniversary. A tour of Europe with Watain and Profanatica was announced for 2018. The band was booked for the MetalGate Czech Death Fest 2018 alongside Samael and others. Georgian police arrested the Tolis brothers at the Tbilisi airport apparently based on the band’s monicker on suspicion of "terrorism." The brothers were released twelve hours later following legal and media intervention. The band’s show proceeded without further incident. The Heretics was supported through multiple videos. The group was booked for The second annual Monolith Festival in Ireland in 2019. On a side note, Rotting Christ had a fossil named after it. Two researchers from the Natural History Museum in Luxembourg found a new brittle-star species and decided to name it Brezinacantha Tolis honouring the Tolis brothers. 2022’s independent release The Early Days - Live In The Studio was offered to Metal Mexico Festival and was taped during the pandemic. The band had a Decibel Magazine flexi disc for the song Holy Mountain, which featured Lars Nedland of Borknagar to mark the bands’ upcoming tour in 2022..Abigail Williams, Vale Of Pnath, Stormruler, Ghost Bath and Rotting Christ were using the Devastation On The Nation Tour 2022 monicker for a North American trek that April and May. Sakis Tolis translated text and offered narration for Manowar's 2022 EP, Highlights From The Revenge Of Odysseus. Rotting Christ was booked for the Næstved Metalfest in 2022. The Apocryphal Spells, Vol.I and The Apocryphal Spells, Vol.II were two odds and ends cash-in compilation EPs issued through Century Media in 2023. Similarly, Their Greatest Spells was the name of a 2018 compilation through Season Of Mist. Rotting Christ, Carach Angren, Uada and Gaerea toured North America in 2023.
Pro Xristou (announced as Pro Xristoy to start) meant Before Christ or BC. A song called Saoirse, Gaelic for ‘Freedom,’ was available in advance. A 35th anniversary concert was with Varathron. Rotting Christ was touring Europe with Borknagar and Seth in September and October 2024. The group also announced Pro Xristou Over Brazil. Behemoth announced a tour with Satyricon and Rotting Christ called The Unholy Trinity European tour. The band was booked for Tolminator in 2025. Rotting Christ, Exodus, Chimaira, Scour, Tesseract, Down, Evil Dead and others were booked for Milwaukee Metal Fest 2025. Rotting Christ also announced a live album called 35 Years of Evil Existence for early 2025. The album was recorded and filmed at the historical hill of Lycabettus in Athens, Greece in the summer of 2024.
Nunslaughter called its 1989 demo The Rotting Christ. Yoth Iria was a black metal band featuring Jim Mutilator, Magus (on vocals) and Giannis Kalamatas (live guitarist for Rotting Christ in 2019) as of 2019.
Reviews ROTTING CHRIST - SLEEP OF THE ANGELS - CENTURY MEDIA
Hello! Is this Tiamat I am listening to? No hold on the vocals...it's Samael!! No, who then? Rotting Christ? Sounds like a brutal black metal band's name. They are not as intelligent as Gorefest/GF to know they have to change their name? Well, why don't you tell them? Oh, OK it makes sense, I'll include it in my review. As a matter of fact I will make it my review. Listening to more of this weak pomp is detrimental to my health - take it off. - Ali "The Metallian"
ROTTING CHRIST - KHRONOS - CENTURY MEDIA
So Rotting Christ has decided to revert back to its (black) metal days and deliver something more sacrilegious than its sleepy goth of last couple albums, eh? Funny thing is this sounds a tad too much like Samael, and hardly heavy enough to warrant a black metal tag, what with its samples, keyboards and a lack of riffs. Speaking of that, it seems that in its quest to restore some heaviness to the fray the band had belatedly decided to lower certain instruments in the mix. This might explain why the keyboards are present, yet quite muffled in the mix. Otherwise this is a weak production. Whatever the case, who would have thought that 'Lucifer' would ever be such a commercial ploy. - Ali "The Metallian"
ROTTING CHRIST - SANCTUS DIAVOLOS - CENTURY MEDIA
With Sanctus Diavolos Rotting Christ attempts to strike a balance between melody and darkness. The resulting CD is naturally a tad heavier and more interesting than the band's most recent releases, but falls short of being a necessary metal purchase. The Greek band's previous works all come together here and become something of a fusion which given the samples and Classical nods could also emanate from a Therion album. In fact, while some songs have the necessary drive and ambition to grab the listener's attention and do so with vigour, others seem content to merely exist and drift in a sea of ambience and atmosphere. It might be interesting or ideal material for the soundtrack to a film, but is an imperfect structure for a heavy metal album. - Ali "The Metallian"
ROTTING CHRIST - AEALO - SEASON OF MIST 
Aealo might be Rotting Christ’s pre-eminent album, so lucky Season Of Mist, yet it is hardly the Greek group’s best. Aealo is an accomplished album built on a foundation of folk and tribal sounds that then, on top of, mixes in heaviness and extremism. The group is not adding flavour to black metal. It is doing the opposite.
Tracks number two, four and five, for instance, are brutally pounding, but each song has a tribal niche stemming from a need to inject something ethnic into the mix. Interestingly, the track with the most straightforward title - that would be English for me - is one called Thou Art Lord, which is the name of another olden Greek band. The album features Diamanda Galas whose main track, Orders From The Dead, is annoying. It sounds like poetry for which one would beat the poet. That annoying.
This album is better than the rubbish these guys were producing with Century Media. That work was über-poseur goth barf. In that sense, the band has come to its senses, yet Aealo is hardly metal with its many distractions. Right now, the band has some extra standing with me because of the treat it received from Megadeth. Yeah, a band called 'mega death' is knocking Rotting Christ for moral reasons.
The packaging for this digi edition is top-notch with a bonus DVD (the live material is interesting, the rest is filler), double later cover and creative and elaborate artwork. The packaging is outstanding. - Anna Tergel
Interviews
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