Thirty-five years is a long time in music, and not just for metal. In the wake of some ridiculous actions committed by members of the early black metal scene in Scandinavia just over three decades ago, the notoriety birthed from it made the wider metal world somewhat unaware of the black metal scene emerging in Greece. One of the poorest nations of Europe at the time. However, the works of two brothers, Sakis and Themis Tolis, eventually boded strong enough to put their nation on the extreme metal map, and their long, fruitful and versatile career has reached album number 14: Pro Xristou.
Roughly translating to “Before Christ,” Rotting Christ have returned with an impressive new album detailing the last stands made by pagan states and rulers against the wave of Christianity in the last centuries of the Roman Empire and the ushering in of the Dark Ages. It’s quite fitting to have the downfall of Rome depicted as the album artwork, and there is a level of epic levity to the music personifying the scale of destruction the Christian forces left when conquering the nations of old – including the band’s homeland and ancient religions.
Having followed RC for the best part of two decades and having named them as an all-time favourite on numerous occasions, I have witnessed the bands evolution from primitive Hellenic black metal to a gothic and atmospheric era; then back to the primitive Hellenic sound before embarking on a more melodic/borderline orchestration era. Since 2010’s Aealo, the Hellenic forefathers have been using all types of indigenous Greek instruments and melodies to give the world an epic and fascinating take on black and gothic metal. The past four albums have continued this trend, giving us some very impressive works that are great fun to listen to and hear live, however I was no fan of 2016’s Rituals, which I have gone as far as calling one of their worst releases of all.
However, 2019’s The Heretics overhauled the failures on Rituals and gave us some very catchy melodies. And now we see even more catchiness and extravagance on this new release, which was far more impressive than I anticipated. Pro Xristou is by no means as excellent as Non Serviam (1994) or my personal favourite, Sleep of the Angels (1999), but it retains the strength and poetic depth that made RC the leading force in the Greek metal scene.
It should also be noted that this album retains some of the gothic lashings that made the band heavily influential in the creation of the gothic black metal genre, and the Tolis brothers have blended these with their newer, more orchestration-esque sound. What made me see this as a winner is how I never lost my concentration on Pro Xristou, which has sadly been the case with most of RC’s recent albums, so they have given veteran fans something to feel very pleased with. Newer fans will most certainly see this release as the crescendo of this era for the band. All albums since Aealo could be interpreted as the first movements of a metal concerto and Pro Xristou is the climax, detailing the fall of Rome and its pagan contemporaries in an epic yet bloody manner.
Overall, what this album tells us is how much talent still lies in the RC camp and they have the creativity to give us impressive releases however much the flow of time effects them as musicians and as people. Pro Xristou is not a Hellenic black metal classic, but it certainly has the fortitude to keep that scene alive and well. Sakis Tolis continues to stoke the Hellenic fire in the ever burning furnace of European black metal.
(7/10 Demitri Levantis)
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