Rotting Christ
Theogonia

Rotting Christ is one of those bands that, for better or worse, has always managed to reinvent itself after each album. Starting with a Black Metal that flirts with melody, Gothic elements began to creep into their music, ultimately overshadowing the original Black Metal roots. In the 2000s, the Greek band returned to Black, but with an awareness of more recent gothic experiments.

On broad strokes, it is from these premises that “Theogonia” was born in 2007. “Theogonia” is a strange album. It seems obvious that it moves within Black Metal territories, but upon listening, something more becomes evident—something that goes well beyond mere gothic influences as seen in albums like “Khronos” and “Genesis.” The ninth album in the band's long career adds something unique to Sakis Tolis's discography. Did the gods of the Greek Pantheon truly inspire Sakis?

As mentioned, Rotting Christ does not betray their black metal origins; Sakis’s growl remains the same, but within the notes of “Theogonia,” there is a new inspiration that somehow exudes epicness and dark mysticism.

“Epicness.” This does not mean that the listener will find choirs in the style of Rhapsody of Fire on this album, not at all, but perhaps will perceive a willingness in the music itself to imprint itself in memory and be passed down by those who listen. With this intention, the Rottin’ want to take us back to the dawn of time, to the time of ?a?? Ge?et?, to the genesis of the gods of Olympus—and they couldn’t have done it better.

“Dark mysticism.” We mentioned that Rotting Christ brings us back to “Theogonia.” But the genesis of the gods is not all roses and flowers; the times were dark, and the band effectively transports us there with severe, sharp, and gritty music that almost lets the listener contemplate these supernatural events.

But what I most want to emphasize is how the band has been able to create a musical work of such compact nature. The album is not a crude mix of different elements, but in the complexity of so many elements interlocked with total naturalness, “Theogonia” appears as something absolutely coherent. Coherent, even though “Rege Diabolicus” is a wicked flurry lasting only a few minutes and “Threnody” is a much more relaxed and oriental-influenced song.

It is, therefore, a truly personal work that defies labels; Rotting Christ has demonstrated that they are a band that knows how to create.

But now, let’s dive into the highlights of the album.

The opener “?a?? Ge?et? (The Sign of Prime Creation),” to be honest, couldn’t have been better. It's a three-minute and twenty-second blast of Black Metal flurries, sharp mid-tempo verses, and Greek choruses. It's impossible not to get caught up in the enthusiasm. It's the prelude to something grand.

Something grand is certainly “Keravnos Kyvernitos,” which grows increasingly in intensity, culminating in one of the best choruses made by Rotting Christ: melodic, epic, and truly full of pathos.

“Enuma Elish” is one of the strangest tracks. Aside from the lyrics (Sakis also invokes ancient Sumerian deities), the barely five-minute song is the most unsettling on the album, starting with obsessive guitars that create a strange tension, and later accompanied by female voices of oriental taste.

As mentioned, the shapes the album takes are among the most varied, from the dark ruggedness of “Phobo's Synagogue” to the driving guitars of “He, the Aethyr,” to the almost folky “Nemecic”.

Ultimately, in the opinion of the author, “Theogonia” is one of the best metal releases of the 2000s. It’s not an album that invents something new, but one that knows how to perfectly combine various elements, creating a standalone entity in the Greeks' personal proposal. It’s the album that best announces Rotting Christ among the torchbearers of metal in recent years, a genre increasingly devoid of ideas, on par with very few other bands.

Ah, of course, if you're a blackster still hung up on “Transilvanian Hunger” and reluctant to embrace any innovation, skip this album, but I recommend “Theogonia” to any open-minded listener who, like me, doesn’t have to be a Black Metal enthusiast to appreciate its multiple nuances.

A work to cherish.