How are Rotting Christ, the Greek band persecuted by governments and the Church, criticized by Dave Mustaine and enormously successful

None other than “Christ Rotting” is the name of the legendary band Christ in rotprecursor of European black metal and originally from Athens, Greece.

The group has 35 years of history and this will prove its validity Saturday 24 February at the “From Hell Festival” in the Arena Sura courageous cycle of sonic resistance and worship of the most violent and dark genres of metal music, extreme and anti-commercial.

The two inaugural dates featured original Iron Maiden singer Paul DiAnno and thrash metal glories Vio-Lence and Exhorder.

Tickets can be obtained via the TicketFlash system and the invited groups will be Dyslepsia, Inazulina and Lepergod.

Resisted, persecuted and succeeded

The group of the 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 surprising desire to “dramatize” them. ultra fast and guttural songs hand in hand with keyboards played with total rusticity.

His presence was a nuisance for some sectors of the metal world, to the point that at one time Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine has made it a condition not to play festivals with them.

Politicians from various countries around the world have set their sights on Rotting Christ and his provocative name. They were criticized by Gary Bauer, an ultra-conservative American senator and collaborator of Trump and Reagan the band was banned.

Its members were also arrested in 2018 upon arrival in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, accused of being suspected terrorists.

At first, Rotting Christ’s sonic attempt or quest yielded no immediate results, but the urge to take their sound to the next level was evident at every stage of recording for the band, who already have thirteen studio albums.

They were small steps that the group took to become a respected musical entity in its particular niche, appreciated as references to the most sophisticated and atmospheric black metal.

Speaks in singer and guitarist

On a break from the Latin tour, the singer and guitarist recently landed in Colombia Sakis Tolislisten to the call of Clarion. His voice is thick, his accent is rough, his attitude is clear: without being rude, he responds without hesitation, with a clear attitude and in a “nonsense, no” way.

-Besides the provocative name, why do you think they have been the focus of criticism from governments and even other musicians in the metal scene?

-We chose that name with the idea of ​​being 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 exist, even if we change and the world changes too. I think the name we have is still effective in making it clear that we are not following the guidelines of the system.

-You claim to not be Satanists, but how can you separate the idea of ​​being called “Rotten Christ” and not being Satanists?

-“Satanists” is a very big word, we don’t consider ourselves that way, but rather anti-religious. It’s the essence of the band. We believe that the opposite of religion is what moves people forward in evolutionary steps. And not only are we against Christ, as our name suggests, but we are against all religions.

-For the general public, Slayer, Kiss and Marilyn Manson were bands that opposed Christianity. Do you feel represented by the way these artists despised 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 you like for their anti-religion philosophy?

-I really like Ghost, a band that people often say is pop-rock. I think they do their job very well.

The clash with Mustaine

-How would you define the band’s sonic evolution, from their basic beginnings to their current dramatic and atmospheric black metal?

-“Evolution” is the most important word for us. Anything that doesn’t evolve dies, so we’re always trying new things. I can say that we have evolved a lot, yes, but we are also true to our roots, where we will always dedicate ourselves to creating true dark metal.

-The incident with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth is known throughout the world. Do you think the metal scene is somehow hypocritical?

-It’s not that it’s a hypocritical scene, it’s that there are people who don’t like certain truths being told. There will definitely be 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 about being part of the “From Hell” concert series in a place like Buenos Aires?

-Brilliant. Actually I want to thank all the metal brothers and sisters in Argentina, who I am very happy to see again in a few days. I know you are facing great economic and financial problems, but believe me that if you stay true to your spirit everything will get better. Let’s all raise our middle fingers and fuck all the corrupt politicians!