Rotting Christ‘s fourteenth album is finally here.

Founded in 1984 as Black Church, the band changed its name in 1987 and gradually adopted its current sound identity. In 2024, brothers Sakis Tolis (vocals/guitar, Thou Art Lord) and Themis Tolis (drums, ex-Varathron, ex-Zemial) unveil the release of Pro Xristou, still from their collaboration with Season of Mist.

The band is accompanied live by Kostas Heliotis (bass/vocals) and Kostis Foukarakis (guitar/vocals), and have called on Nikos Kerkiras (keyboards), backing singers Christina Alexiou, Maria Tsironi (Neperia), Alexandros Louziotis and Vasilis Karatzas (backing vocals), and narrators Andrew Liles and Kim Holm to create the album.

The album opens with Pro Xristoy, an impressive introduction featuring some fairly straightforward riffs and recognizable vocal parts that lead into The Apostate, where majestic melodies shade the band’s aggressive approach and catchy patterns. As I’m accustomed to the band, I’m certain that this composition will be extremely unifying on stage, as will the bewitching Like Father, Like Son, whose soaring harmonies easily hypnotize us, and whose chorus already makes us want to sing along with the musicians, while letting ourselves be carried away by the rhythmic. The Sixth Day immediately takes on a different hue, eventually turning out to be melancholy and quite luminous, while La Lettera Del Diavolo develops a much livelier dynamic, using an overdriven tempo to express its fury. The female vocalist doesn’t hesitate to ignite the rhythm again when it calms down, giving it a theatrical air, before The Farewell offers us a brief moment of respite, followed by accessible but incredibly motivating riffs coupled with vocal parts that are slightly softer than usual. Keyboards and vocals offer us a mystical break before resuming their normal speed to join Pix Lax Dax, where epic and martial atmosphere mingle to punctuate our march between the nascent harmonics that pave the way to the pessimistic Pretty World, Pretty Dies, which draws on its darker roots to provide contrast with the composition’s more melodic elements. The chorus is once again very raw but unifying, then the band returns to the coldness to give Yggdrasil its more massive touch, while creating jerky riffs that rival the grandiose orchestrations, which take on their full meaning on the finale told then sung. Saoirse brings the album to a close with a riveting bass that reigns over the track, leaving the guitars to weave their melodies while the backing vocals intensify once more, leading the album into its final battle, then into silence.

The limited editions also feature two bonus tracks, the slow, ponderous Primal Resurrection, which allows the vocalist to be more directive beneath the breathless riffs, and All For One, which takes up a similar pace but uses a much smoother rhythmic pattern conducive to various heady harmonics.

Rotting Christ no longer need to prove themselves, either on album or on stage, and the band now shines with Pro Xristou, faithful to their recent influences. The album will be immediately adored by fans, while allowing newcomers to discover their most majestic side.

90/100

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