Rotting Christ – Supposed to (Not) Rot
By: David E. Gehlke
It was often uttered by Chuck Schuldiner that if he could go back and do it all over again, “Death” would never have been called “Death.” Ask Dave Mustaine, who in his perpetual pursuit of commercial acceptance would have probably have chosen something more radio-friendly than Megadeth. For Greece’s Rotting Christ’s Sakis however, the RC moniker is a badge of pride and resistance, one that has been on full display for over 20 years.
The band’s latest is Aeolo and it’s the mystical, chant-laden offering Rotting Christ is quickly becoming the masters of. For a band that uses so many disparate and exotic elements, the common tie of strong songs emblazed with melody has never been lost on Sakis, thus elevating Aeolo into the upper echelons of the band’s catalog.
We caught up with the man to discuss Aeolo, his band’s place in both the underground and Greek metal scene, and a few of their select albums, namely 1997’s vastly-underrated A Dead Poem. Onward ye go…
Blistering.com: You recently reached the career milestone of 20 years. Has it struck you what an accomplishment this is?
Sakis: Already 21 bro! Time is passing by fast…fast as a shark! No…I have never thought what an accomplishment this is! I am just a warrior of metal that I have been fighting for this idea and I never felt that I have done something special. I am just a simple follower of the idea!
Blistering.com: Your early beginnings saw you in the thick of the black metal scene, now you have outlasted a lot of those bands. At the time, could you foresee yourself still doing this and under your own terms?
Sakis: Yes we keep on creating our own metal. We are not stuck in clichés and we try sound a little bit unique. Of course we play metal…we play dark metal, but I can also call it Rotting Christ and I am honoured that many metalheads around do believe the same!
Blistering.com: Along the way, RC has undergone some stylistic shifts. Do you regret any of these? For instance, Sleep of Angels seems to be your most “talked-about” album because of its heavy Goth influence...
Sakis: As the only composer of the band, I assume responsibility of every stylistic shifts of the band that have destroyed our rotting balance through the years. Although I do not regret this because this is a part of myself. Please notice down that I am the anxious person that I am always seeking for more and more artistically and I do love exploring new untreaded paths of my soul so I cannot promise that you will not suffer or enjoy those shifts in the future. I am anxious as a person …I cannot escape from this but I am also faithful to my roots.
Blistering.com: Onto Aeolo it expands upon what you started with on Theogenia, albeit a much more exotic scale. It’s definitely one of your more challenging albums, wouldn’t you agree?
Sakis: It is not exotic…it is Hellenic, it is Greek. It is where many ideas were born and as being a citizen of this land I have discovered in my DNA some spots that I really wanted to put out artistically. And here I am with Aeolo, our most (as you corrected mentioned) challenging album.
Blistering.com: There seems to be a strong emphasis on guitar melodies during “Dub-Sag-Ta-Ke” and “Fire, Death and Fear.” Where do you think melody ranks in terms of Rotting Christ’s overall sound?
Sakis: Melody is an important part of Rotting Christ since our beginning and this is what varied from the Norwegian black metal bands…
Blistering.com: The two guest appearances from Diamanda Galas and Alan from Primordial lend a lot to the overall feel of the album. How much thought went into choosing the guest vocalists for the album?
Sakis: I had several guests appearing on this album and all of them were my friends that responded positive in giving a hand in our new album. So when I end up with the composing of the song “Thou Art Lord,” I thought that a clear voice could lift up the whole atmosphere of the song so I called my brother Alan from Primordial to give a hand. As for Diamanda, ot was a big honor for me that mistress of darkness Diamanda Galas aproved on covering her song “The Orders From the Dead” and especially that approved me on writing some music on this song that of course belongs to her. It was one of the highlights as a composer.
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