ROTTING CHRIST Announce New Album Pro Xristoy
By
Larry Petro,
News Monkey
Sunday, January 21, 2024 @ 11:36 AM
| Out May 24; 35 Years of Evil Existence Tour Kicks Off February 6th
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by Chantik Photography
ROTTING CHRIST have stood the test of time. While their name has caused plenty of gatekeepers to clutch their pearls, Sakis Tolis and has brother Themis have risen from Greece's blackened catacombs to one of metal's most formidable bands.
This year, ROTTING CHRIST are celebrating 35 years of evil excellence with their 14th album. Pro Xristoy is bound to hold a revered place in the band's heretical history. Always true to their name, with Pro Xristoy ("Before Christ"), the band pay tribute to the last of the Pagan kings by offering up more towering, gothic, melodic black metal.
Now that ROTTING CHRIST are closing in on four decades, some followers might've wondered if there was any sacred ground left for them to conquer. But Pro Xristoy is a testament to a band that's still on the rise.
"This album was inspired by the might of ancient pagan wisdom", says Sakis. "It's a tribute to those who resisted the coming of Christianity, which destroyed all the values, traditions and knowledge of the ancient world."
Pro Xristoy comes out May 24.
Track list
- "Pro Xristoy"
- "The Apostate"
- "Like Father, Like Son"
- "The Sixth Day"
- "La Lettera Del Diavolo"
- "The Farewell"
- "Pix Lax Dax"
- "Pretty World, Pretty Dies"
- "Yggdrasil"
- "Saoirse"
- "Primal Resurrection" (Bonus Track)
- "All For One" (Bonus Track)
Pre-orders for the new album will start next month.
To kick off what's shaping up to be a year's worth of devilish festivities, ROTTING CHRIST are heading off on a tour of Latin America. Fans from Mexico to Argentina will have the pleasure of banging their heads to an unholy litany of the band's greatest hits. They'll also be treated to new songs off Pro Xristoy that are bound to become setlist staples.
ROTTING CHRIST 35 Years of Evil Existence Tour
- February 6 - Monterrey, MX
- February 7 - Torreon, MX
- February 9 - Chihuahua, MX
- February 10 - Ciudad Juarez, MX
- February 11 - Guadalajara, MX
- February 13 - Leon, MX
- February 14 - San Luis Potosi, MX
- February 16 - Queretaro, MX
- February 17 - Mexico City, MX
- February 18 - Toluca, MX
- February 21 - Bogota, Colombia
- February 23 - Santiago, Chile
- February 24 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- February 27 - La Paz, Bolivia
- February 29 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
- March 2 - Brasilia, Brazil
- March 3 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil
In the dimly lit catacombs of extreme metal, one name stands as a monolith: ROTTING CHRIST. Sakis Tholis and his brother Themis started this band together back in 1987. In the three decades since, these Greek titans have left their blackened imprint all over the metal world. They've released 13 studio albums and played more than 1,3000 concerts around the globe. Underneath all this hard work, ROTTING CHRIST have but one vision - an urge to not only push the boundaries of extreme metal, but to keep reinventing themselves along the way.
ROTTING CHRIST's evolution has unfolded across several distinct chapters. After starting out closer to the barely controlled chaos of grindcore, they went on to establish the iconic sound of Hellenic black metal. Their albums often embraces refined gothic soundscapes, only to plunge back into the depths of blasphemous fervour. Each chapter marked another, further exploration, and an unwavering commitment to bush boundaries.
But the real turning point came in 2007, when ROTTING CHRIST signed a pact with Season of Mist. They unleashed a series of albums for the French label that defied any and all expectations. From the piercing Theogonia and the symphonic grandeur of Aelo to the cinematic experiences created by ROTTING CHRIST became a spectacle of bombastic atmospheres, mesmerizing choirs, and neo-classical arrangements. The unexpected is their modus operandi, with the use of various languages (Latin, Arabic, Greek, English) as well as the extensive use of famous poetry woven into their music, like Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven on The Heretics.
In 2019, ROTTING CHRIST's epic journey continued with The Apocryphal Spell compilation, which offers fans an intimate glimpse into unreleased and rare material. This allowed them to gather strength, preparing for the release of their next, highly anticipated, 14th full-length studio album: Pro Xristoy.
Pro Xristoy ('Before Christ' in Greek), serves as a fervent tribute to the last Pagan kings who resisted the onslaught of Christianity, guarding their ancient values and knowledge. In this thematic odyssey, intricately woven through tracks such as "The Apostate" and "Ygdrassil", ROTTING CHRIST delves into the legacies of historical figures such as Flavius Claudius Julianus and Nordic mythological kings, embodying the might of Pagan wisdom in the face of Christian adversity. The album encapsulates the essence of ROTTING CHRIST's signature style - melodic, yet harsh at times - reinventing themselves yet again, while remaining rooted in their 35-year legacy.
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