Rotting Christ - Aealo
Absolutely fucking tragic. The unexplainable need felt by the majority to fix what is not broken. To take what already works perfectly and try to make it better. Rampant everywhere in society and now evident in the mighty catalog of Greek Black Metal legends Rotting Christ. From their raw, primitive early works to their more experimental recent material, and the perfect balance of the two I found in the all too brief A Dead Poem/Sleep of the Angels era, the “Grecian formula” was solid and it fucking worked. With Aealo, the need to fix what is not broken is the only formula. Could it be the seminally trend retardant masters have succumbed to the accursed Viking/Pagan/Swords/Pirates/35-Year Old Virgin Metal trend? It would appear to be painfully true. The cover of the album is a battle helmet and the album pretty much plays like the lost soundtrack to 300. The primary enjoyment destroyers of this album are the horrible female backing vocals. They sound like something out of a bad Nile song, and there’s lots of them. There is also a plethora of guest vocal appearances from guys who have no business singing. And the saddest aspect, underneath the bullshit choir practice and role playing atmosphere is a core made of those perfect, epic, soaring Rotting Christ melodies that have defined them for over two decades. Had they been left alone, this would have been another near perfect chapter in a magnificent musical career. As is, only “Noctis Era” and “…Pir Threontai” are tolerable.
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