March 1, 2010

Reviewer: Jesse

If there’s any band that deserves the benefit of the doubt from me, it’s Rotting Christ.  I also reserve the right, in my own world, to hold them to a higher standard than most other bands and in the fourteen years that I’ve been a fan, only once have they really disappointed me.  They have however produced a few average albums as well, but for the most part, Rotting Christ is a pillar of consistency and have been consummate professionals during their entire career.  It might be the fact that this new album is coming after the huge success that was Theogonia, but Aealo is nothing more than a big disappointment.

Right off the bat on the opening track, we’re introduced to a female choir singing in an ethnic, folkish style that reminds me somewhat of segments from Orphaned Land except that whoever is singing on this album isn’t anywhere near as good.  In fact, they’re given their own intro/instrumental track, “Nekron lahes..,” which is so bad that I always have to skip it.  Luckily they don’t infect too many songs on this album.  The songs on Aealo are very standard Rotting Christ in which most hop on the shoulders of a catchy riff and let it carry the whole song with the occasional solo mixed in.  A lot of the riffs on Aealo are actually maddeningly catchy, maybe more so than on the past few albums, but the production is too thin to do them any justice.  There’s just a very flat feel throughout.  My main gripe on Aealo however is the vocals.  They’re just atrocious.  Sakis is screaming so hard that his voice is drowning itself out from a lack of oxygen.  I don’t know why he decided to go this route on this album, but he’s never sounded so bad.  I guess the point was to show some kind of supreme devotion and passion, but these high-pitched, breathless wails are either a phony and forced display of emotion or his throat is finally giving out on him.  It can’t even be blamed on the producer because Sakis produces every Rotting Christ album himself, so it’s basically inexcusable.  The worst display of this is on the song “Fire Death and Fear” where he sounds like someone stepping on a cat’s tail while it’s gargling water.  There’s also a Diamanda Galas cover at the end of the album in which she guest sings on as well, but that hardly makes it a cover then, right?  What’s the point in that?  “Hey will you guest-sing one of your own songs on our new album?”  The song is terrible to boot and excruciatingly long at nine minutes, gah.

This album is disappointing because from a song-writing stand-point, it’s very good and every bit what you would expect from a Rotting Christ album these days.  Highly melodic and crisp riffs, very focused songs that don’t meander or lose you and minus the cover song, it’s a decent length at about forty-two minutes.  However, if you combine that with a weak production job, female choir experimentation and embarrassingly awful vocals, you get an album ruined by factors that could have easily been avoided.  It would be one thing if this was just another Sleep of the Angels which was vapid and bland all the way around, but Aealo at its core is quite energetic and memorable.  Only now, it’ll be remembered as one of those that could have been.

Release Date: February 15th, 2010
Label: Season Of Mist

TRACK LISTING

1.  Aealo
2.  Eon Aenaos
3.  Demonon Vrosis
4.  Noctis Era
5.  dub-sag-ta-ke
6.  Fire Death and Fear
7.  Nekron lahes...
8.  ...Pir Threontai
9.  Thou Art Lord
10.  Santa Muerte
11.  Orders From the Dead
     (Diamanda Galas cover)

Total playing time:  50:05

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Rotting Christ - Aealo