ROTTING CHRIST

Aealo had the same issue many albums face when released after a masterpiece. This is not only related to the music industry. The hype is higher, the impatience palpable, and fans are divided about how this album would have been if Theogonia had not been its predecessor. Back in 2010, when originally released, Aealo was therefore seen by many as a step back. Today, anno dominis 2026, this re-recorded version proves that what was excellent in 2010 remains vital today. The re-recorded edition does not attempt to reinvent the album; rather, it refines it. The production feels clearer and more balanced, enhancing the layered percussion, chants, and hypnotic melodic structures without sacrificing the record’s raw, ritualistic atmosphere.

The album opens with ‘Aealo’, and we are immediately thrown into the band’s fierce sound. Hypnotic guitars and female choirs balance the raw screams of Sakis, setting the record’s ceremonial tone. With ‘Eon Aenaos’, the atmosphere becomes apocalyptic. If you ever need a soundtrack for the end of the world, this is the one. Rock-solid guitars dominate, while the choirs are slightly pushed aside, making space for what leads directly into the true centrepiece of the album. That centrepiece is ‘Daimonon Vrosis’. A “soft” guitar opens the track, while a female lament rises in the background, unfolding like a ritual deep in a forest. Epic melodies reach their peak here, making this song one of the defining moments of Aealo. The tension continues with ‘Noctis Era’, a primal march built on a hypnotic riff and a relentless groove that carries the listener through moments of intimacy before the march inevitably returns.

With ‘Dub-Sag-Ta-Ke’, Greek traditional instruments finally take centre stage, driving the song before giving way to what is probably the best guitar solo on the entire album. ‘Fire, Death And Fear’ follows a different path, built on tribal rhythms, pounding drums, and expressive solos. The feeling of destruction and melancholy permeates the entire song. ‘Nekron Iahes’ opens the final part of the album, marking the ritualistic transition in which, paradoxically, the female choirs are almost no longer used from this point onward. ‘Pyr Threontai’ brings another march, rawer and more stripped down, but unmistakably Rotting Christ as they sounded in 2010.

With ‘Thou Art Lord’, there is a welcome return to gothic atmospheres, a mid-tempo track that flows naturally and remains highly enjoyable. ‘Santa Muerte’ sees the band returning to heavier pounding, with a shy choir that could have been more prominent, yet the song still stands as one of the heaviest moments on the album. ‘Orders From The Dead’ serve as the ritual’s final invocation, in which Diamanda Galás channels the voices of the dead to curse and warn the world, ensuring the album ends on a chilling, unforgettable note as humankind keeps repeating the same horrors.

For longtime listeners, this re-recording is a respectful return to an album with two souls: a first half that is pompous, cinematic, and deeply rooted in ritual and choirs, and a second half that sounds more “classic” Rotting Christ. For newcomers, it offers a clear entry point into one of the band’s most distinctive releases. Aealo may not always be called their ultimate masterpiece, but it remains one of their most convincing and enduring statements.