Rotting Christ - The Heretics
Greek black death-metal outfit Rotting Christ just released the lyric video for “Ветры злые,” translated from the Russian as Vetry Zyle, meaning “evil winds.”
Rotting Christ
“‘Ветры злые” is from the band’s forthcoming album, The Heretics, slated to drop February 15, on Season of Mist. The song features both English and Russian lyrics, with the Russian verses managed by guest vocalist Irina Zybina of the Russian folk metal band Грай (Grai).
Rotting Christ’s current lineup goes like this: Sakis Tolis (guitar, vocals), Themis Tolis (drums), George Emmanuel (guitar), and Vaggelis Karzis (bass). When the band first began rehearsing during the late 1980s, their sound was grindcore. Influenced by the proto-black metal sound of bands such as Celtic Frost and Venom, Rotting Christ started blending elements of black metal into their grindcore sound, which, over time evolved into what is called “classic Greek black metal.”
The band’s name – Rotting Christ – has engendered beau coup hullabaloo, including a 1999 episode, when conservative Christian candidate Gary Bauer asserted the band was “anti-Catholic.” And again in 2005, when Megadeath’s Dave Mustaine stated he wouldn’t play at a concert in Greece, if Rotting Christ were allowed to perform. Later, when scheduled to perform in Malta, the Catholic Church objected because someone pasted one of the band’s flyers to the door of a church. The band was forced to change venues, but did finally perform.
Zybina’s gorgeously lambent voice imbues the music with Valkyrie-like beauty, fierce and rife with icy necessity.
The latest incident occurred in 2018, when the band arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Tolis brothers were arrested as terrorists. Their passports and cell phones were impounded, and the brothers were tossed into prison, where they remained for twelve hours. After being released, the band performed and then got out of Dodge City.
On behalf of the band, front man Sakis Tolis has this to say about “Ветры злые.” "Dear fellows, I am in the pleasant position to present to you another new song I wrote for Rotting Christ; "Ветры злые (Vetry Zlye)," a song that was influenced by paganism and specifically from the Slavic pagan religions through the history of time and exalts the power of Mother Nature. I Hope you will enjoy the (probably) most melodic song from our upcoming album 'The Heretics,' which is accompanied by the beautiful voice of Irina Zybina."
“Ветры злые” opens with buff double-bass pounding, followed by the entry of dark, dirty guitars surging with heavy murky energy. The hypertrophic rhythm, formed by the hammering drums and muscular bass line, infuses the tune with reckless menacing momentum, like the cacophony of massive armies advancing forth from the abyss.
The harmonic flow is mesmerizing, potently tantalizing, and deliciously melodic, flooding the atmosphere with palpable sonic colors and the feeling of inevitability. Where much of today’s black death metal is redundant and derivative, “Ветры злые” is not only pregnant with mysterious symbolism, but projects tumescent, unidentifiable emotion as frigid as an arctic wasteland. When the male choir enters, the tune assumes resonant titanic depth of majestic proportions. Zybina’s gorgeously lambent voice imbues the music with Valkyrie-like beauty, fierce and rife with icy necessity.
“Ветры злые” is immeasurably powerful and marvelously impressive. With this song, Rotting Christ delivers a knockout sonic blow.
