ROTTING CHRIST · Khronos | BLACK 2LP

Black double vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Background information about 'Khronos'

There's a certain weight that hangs over Khronos, the seventh full-length from Greece's unholy sons Rotting Christ. Originally unleashed in 2000, this album finds the band standing at a crossroads — one foot still firmly planted in the gothic-tinged atmospherics they'd refined through the late 90s, the other reaching back toward the raw, blackened aggression of their early years. And honestly? It's that tension that makes this record so damn compelling.

Recorded during the dead of a Swedish winter at Abyss Studios, Khronos carries a cold, almost brittle production that suits its mood perfectly. The keyboards that dominated its predecessor Sleep of the Angels are pushed back here, buried beneath layers of riffwork that alternate between blasting ferocity and brooding, mid-paced groove. Tracks like "Thou Art Blind" and "Aeternatus" hit with a blunt force that recalls Thy Mighty Contract, all razor-wire tremolo picking and Sakis Tolis' unmistakable snarl. But then you get cuts like the title track or "My Sacred Path," where that gothic sensibility creeps back in — dark wave undercurrents, clean vocal passages, melodies that linger long after the needle lifts. The eleven-minute closer "Glory of Sadness" is a masterclass in atmospheric build, eventually dissolving into an industrial-tinged hidden track that feels like a door closing on an era. This is Rotting Christ at their most transitional, and that's precisely what makes it essential.

For fans of:
Moonspell, Tiamat, Samael

Other Versions

BLACK TAPE · 12,99 € CLEAR/TURQUOISE 2LP · 34,99 €

Track listing

LP 1:
A1. Thou Art Blind
A2. If It Ends Tomorrow
A3. My Sacred Path
B1. Aeternatus
B2. Art of Sin
B3. Lucifer Over London
B4. Law of the Serpent

LP 2:
C1. You Are I
C2. Khronos
C3. Fateless
D1. Time Stands Still
D2. Glory of Sadness

Manufacturer: Sasu Soundworks Sarl, 126 Boulevard Bara, Heliopolis 2, Lot B4, 13013 Marseille, France, Contact: www.season-of-mist.com