Black Metal History Month - Rotting Christ "The Heretics"

This band is deserving to be the first review of Black Metal History month since They have been churning out black metal before it was black metal as we now know it. So  for the past 19 years they have expanded their sound into something beyond black metal. Bigger and sometimes more symphonic like Dimmu Borgir. This also explains why they have a larger audience. They continue to weave in various elements of world music into their sound. It pays off and proves they care about their songs. "Heaven and Hell and Fire"  is more of a straight forward metal epic that has more of a pagan metal feel.  " Hallowed Be Thy Name" is not a cover of the Iron Maiden song, I am not sure why bands would ever name a song after a metal classic is would be like naming a song "War Pigs" or "Angel of Death". This song is a slow churning number of beastly proportions. There is a sung refrain that does get its hooks in you.  They slave over the powerful riff and let it drone on.

"Dies Irae" holds a similar tension that is becoming their signature. I don't find this tension as gripping . There is almost a Nordic feel to the chant that drives "I Believe". I am not sure about this spoken vocal that feels like it goes on a little longer than it should. So it's at this point that it feels like the album begins to lose some of the momentum from it's strong opening. There is more of a black metal feel to the march of "Fire God and Fear". The vocals are commanding and it has a big borderline symphonic chorus.It pulls them out to the stagnant one riff drone the other songs were falling into. There  is even a cool atmospheric interlude where tension builds in a more effective manner, leading into a guitar solo. This is more than likely the best song on the album.

"the Time Has Come" has a thundering build up that reminds me of "Enter Sandman".  It's heavier and has a more pagan like chant in the background. There is a lower muttered spoken vocal that builds into more of their typical growl. While this is better than some of the songs that I didn't feel went much of anywhere, it is hard to follow up the previous song , so they set the bar higher for themselves. It almost reminds me of a more metallic less industrial version of Rammstein.  "The New Messiah" opens with a more interesting chant. It goes into a more tense chug, the vocals are really well layered to provide a contrast.This song proves they can work off the more limited range of riffs and still make a good song. While the lyrics to "the Raven" are pulled right from the Edgar Allen Poe poem, the feel a little clunky like something My Dying Bride might do in their more overly ambitious moments when it goes into the spoken parts. I'll round this down to a 9, I like it better than the last album and it works much more often than not, if you are fan then you will love this . For it to get a 9 I;m clearly impressed, but not going to call it a classic.

Comes out Feb 15th on Season of Mist.