Khronos - édition gatefold

Description

Double black vinyl, 12" (33 RPM), in a gatefold sleeve. First pressing of 300 copies. Founded in Athens in 1987 by brothers Sakis and Themis Tolis, ROTTING CHRIST has spent over a decade carving out a unique place in the European extreme metal landscape, evolving from the rawest sounds of black metal to a series of increasingly atmospheric and gothic-tinged albums, thus broadening their audience without ever renouncing their identity. ‘Khronos’, originally released in 2000 and now reissued by Season of Mist, marks the end of this period: a culmination of the band's gothic era before their shift towards even darker and more mythologically infused territories. The album exists in a tension that is both unsettling and creative, between the aggression of their early days and the atmospheric refinement developed in the late 1990s. Recorded in the heart of a Nordic winter at Abyss Studios in Sweden, ‘Khronos’ carries this coldness in its production. More muted and ambient than its predecessor, the album features keyboards that take a backseat to the guitars, and an overall texture that is darker than bright. Tracks like "Thou Art Blind" and "Aeternatus" strike with a ferocity not seen since ‘Thy Mighty Contract’: direct, fast, and uncompromising. "My Sacred Path," "Art of Sin," and the title track retain the melodic intelligence of the gothic years, weaving dark wave undertones within their slower, more insinuating structures. The final track, "Glory of Sadness," stretches over eleven minutes, ultimately leading to a hidden passage with industrial accents that indirectly represents the imminent closing of a door. In the end, the album refuses any easy categorization: it is neither a return to roots nor a continuation of its predecessor, but a stranger and more thoughtful work, halfway between the two. For fans of MOONSPELL, TIAMAT, SAMAEL. Artwork by Seth Siro Anton.