ROTTING CHRIST - GREECE

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