ROTTING CHRIST — Passage to Arcturo (review)

ROTTING CHRIST — Passage to Arcturo album cover

EP · 1991 · Black Metal

3.5/5 · 2016-04-01
siLLy puPPy

After forming in 1987 in Athens, Greece and releasing a few abysmally sounding demos (“Decline’s Return,” “Satanas Tedeum” and “Leprosy Of Death”) as a grindcore band which were so horribly produced that they literally sound like someone swallowed a microphone and we’re hearing the digestive process, ROTTING CHRIST debuted their first official release PASSAGE TO ARCTURO in 1991.

This debut EP shows the band evolving past their generic grindcore beginnings and entering the contemporary trend of second wave black metal. ROTTING CHRIST was one of the first bands in Southeastern Europe to emerge as a black metal band and this short but sweet EP shows the band in a transitory stage as it still has grind influences but was channeling its sound to correspond with early Darkthrone but even at this stage they were setting themselves apart.

The original EP was only released on vinyl with six tracks but was released a couple years later on CD with bonus tracks which include the mini-EP “Dawn Of The Iconoclast” which contains the two tracks “The Nereid Of Esgladuin” and “Viscious Joy And Black Delight,” and also includes the track “Feast Of The Grant Whore” from the first official demo “Satanas Tedeum.” On my CD there is a title track that starts off the album which i’m not sure where it came from and it replaces the original opening track “Intro - Ach Golgotha” which is an atmospheric build up of dungeon synth sounding ambiance with monks chanting faintly in the background while monstrous sounds emerge from the depths of hell. It’s pretty cool and i’m not happy that they left it off the newer editions.

So in effect on the CD version which is probably the only one you can find these days, you will get a clear picture of how the band was changing it up in the early days trying to grasp onto a sound all their own which on this one is a mix of old school death metal with second wave black metal. Unlike many contemporaries the band was already utilizing melodic counterpoints to the harsh bombastic metal riffs as on “The Old Coffin Spirit” that has keyboards and female vocals accompanying the black metal riffs. At this point the percussion merely accompanies the riffs and there are no blastbeats or technical wizardry of any kind. The focus is on brutal guitar riffs and atmospheric accompaniments with their occult themes and lyrics which are unintelligible.

It’s interesting to compare the bonus tracks that are taken from the early demos as they show how quickly the band was evolving. I was initially surprised that i liked this one so much because i always found their full debut album “Thy Mighty Contract” to be a little too generic for my tastes. PASSAGE TO ARCTURO is a much more varied and diversified affair with interesting songwriting, great guitar work and spooky atmospheric additions that work in tandem with the eerie imagery of the album cover. There are hints of their future here as well as there are melodic piano runs, spoken word chants and some of their familiar interplay between the instruments as well as the unique vocal growls of Sakis Tolis (known here as Necromayhem.)

This first release is light years beyond the awful and forgettable demos and more interesting than the full length release to follow. If you like early melodic black metal with that underground early 90s appeal then PASSAGE TO ARCTURO won’t disappoint and an excellent gateway into their early years as it also contains just enough earlier material to give you a taste of how far the band has taken their sound over the years.