Nothing less than “Rotting Christ” is the name of the legendary band
Rotting Christ
, precursor of
European black metal
and originally from Athens, Greece.
The group has 35 years of history and will demonstrate its validity this
Saturday, February 24 at "From Hell Festival" at Arena Sur
, a brave cycle of sound resistance and adoration of the most violent and dark genres of metal, extreme and anti-commercial music.
The two inaugural dates featured Iron Maiden's original singer Paul DiAnno and thrash metal glories Vio-Lence and Exhorder.
Rotting Christ already has a 35-year career and is a benchmark of the "black metal" style.
Photo: IG
Tickets are obtained through the TicketFlash system and the invited groups will be Dislepsia, Inazulina and Lepergod.
Resisted, persecuted and successful
The group of
brothers Sakis and Themis Tolis
burst onto the scene by dint of a brutal combination of
grindcore
(perhaps the most brutal subgenre of metal) and a striking desire to “dramatize” those
ultra-fast and guttural songs
with the help of keyboards played with total rusticity.
Their presence was a nuisance for some sectors of the metal world, to the point that Dave Mustaine of Megadeth once
made it a condition not to play at festivals with them
.
Rotting Christ will play this Saturday the 24th in Buenos Aires, on their second visit to the country.
Photo: IG
Politicians from various countries around the world set their sights on Rotting Christ and its provocative name.
They were criticized by Gary Bauer, the ultra-conservative US senator and collaborator of Trump and Reagan, when
the band was banned
.
Even its members were arrested in 2018 upon arrival in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi,
accused of being suspected terrorists
.
In the beginning, Rotting Christ's attempt or sound search did not give immediate results, but the impetus to take their sound to the next level was noticeable in each recording step of the band, which already has thirteen studio albums.
They were small steps that the group crossed to become a respected musical entity in its particular niche, valued as
references of the most sophisticated and atmospheric black metal
.
Speaks in singer and guitarist
On a break from the Latin tour, the singer and guitarist
Sakis Tolis has just landed in Colombia, heeds
Clarín
's call
.
His voice is thick, his accent is rough, his attitude is clear: without being rude, he answers without hesitation, with a clear attitude and in a “nonsense, no” way.
Sakis Tolis, singer and guitarist of Rotting Christ.
Photo: IG
-In addition to the provocative name, why do you think they were the center of criticism from governments and also from other musicians in the metal scene?
-We chose that name with the idea of annoying, which was the purpose of black metal music in the early '90s.
If you look at most bands of that era, you will see that they had a very bad reputation in the press and in society in general.
In Europe we were part of that idea of “creating problems”.
We continue to be, although we change and so does the world.
I think the name we have is still effective in making it clear that we are not following the system's guidelines.
-You declare that you are not satanists, but how can you separate the idea of being called “Rotting Christ” and not being satanists?
-“Satanists” is a very big word, we do not consider ourselves that way, but
rather anti-religion
.
It is the essence of the band.
We believe that the opposite of religion is what makes people advance, in evolutionary steps.
And we are not only against Christ, as our name would suggest, but
we are against all religions
.
Sakis Tolis, from Rotting Christ, along with all the group's record editions.
Photo: IG
-For the general public, Slayer, Kiss and Marilyn Manson were bands that opposed Christianity. Do you feel represented by the way these artists disdained the religious establishment?
-We like some of these bands, Slayer and Kiss for example, but we are something else.
We are part of the European black metal scene, something much more underground.
We don't follow these American-style satanic gangs.
-Is there any mainstream group that you like for their philosophy opposed to religion?
-I really like Ghost, a band that people often say are pop-rock.
I think they do their thing very well.
The fight with Mustaine
-How would you define the sonic evolution of the band, from the basic beginnings to the current dramatic and atmospheric black metal?
-“Evolution” is the most important word for us.
Everything that doesn't evolve dies, so we always try to try new things.
I can say that we evolved a lot, yes, but we are also faithful to our roots, in which we will always dedicate ourselves to making true dark metal.
Rotting Christ, the famous Greek European bleck metal band.
Photo: IG
-The incident with Megadeth's Dave Mustaine is known throughout the world. Do you think the metal scene is hypocritical in any way?
-It's not that it's a hypocritical scene, it's that there are people who don't like being told some truths.
There will surely be some hypocrites, yes.
But you can disagree and not be part of that group of conservatives who always see black metal in the worst way.
-How do you feel being part of the “From Hell” concert series in a place like Buenos Aires?
-Brilliant.
I actually want to thank all the metal brothers and sisters in Argentina, whom I am very happy to see in a few days.
I know that you are facing great economic and financial problems, but believe me that if you stay true to your spirit everything will improve.
Let's all raise our middle fingers and fuck off all the corrupt politicians!