#8 - Top of 2019

Rotting Christ - The Heretics (Season of Mist)

Rotting Christ have continued evolving and improving their sound since the beginning of their career, never settling on one style and releasing interesting works like their 2013 release Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού and this year's The Heretics which marks their 13th full length album. Right from the beginning of the album "In the Name of God" sets an awesome heavy and eerie atmosphere exploring the antithesis to a variety of political religious topics. This is a theme that is strongly resonating throughout this record. There are some intriguing guests across different tracks with some examples including Irina Zybina's guest (known from the Russian folk band Грай) in her native Russian in "Ветры злые" and Melechesh Ashmedi's guest in Arabic (known from Melechesh) in "The Voice of the Universe". The band also make some bold moves including the choice to narrate the Orthodox statement of belief over pure black metal sounds in "Πιστεύω" and the adaptation of Poe's "The Raven" as the album's closing track. But do not worry! There are a number of tracks that are oozing the familiar Rotting Christ sound like "Heaven and Hell and Fire" and "Dies Irae" which blend perfectly imposing, heavy and surprisingly catchy sounds. Thanks to Sakis Toli's rough vocals and melodic guitar riffs ("Fire, God and Fear" has by far the best guitar mid-track interlude), with a touch of  orchestral choruses that add to the menacing feeling. Overall, a very strong and unique release showing that Rotting Christ have still a lot to show and never cease to surprise by experimenting with new sounds while maintaining their identity!

95.5/100

Below is the official animated video for the song "In the Name of God".