Whilst veteran darkened Gothic Metallers Rotting Christ have been with renowned label Season Of Mist for seventeen years, the partnership seems to have particularly flourished with a quadrilogy of albums that began ten years ago with the revered Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού (or, Katá ton Daímona Eaytoy). The 2013 release saw a progression of their sound to a fuller, more refined and stately entity. That proud style and sound has been polished and shaped through the last decade, culminating in ΠΡΟ ΧΡΙΣΤΟU (Pro Xristou). 
“The Apostate” follows a short but chunky introduction, brazen and like the soundtrack to a Ray Harryhausen saga, as a mesmeric, epic pounding with male choral vocals creates visions of a fleet of triremes sailing on a heroic voyage. This song is the perfect introduction to the world of Rotting Christ for any new heretics stumbling across them for the first time.
Sakis Tolis’ half-gruff, half-spoken intonations fill in the gaps between layered vocal motifs, and the joyful rhythmic chug bathes the ears with the kind of Metal that isn’t easy listening – Rotting Christ still sit outside of the mainstream – but is still oh-so-easy to listen to.
There are surges of pace and variety – “La Lettera Del Diavolo” brings an urgency before it succumbs to the epic waves that maintain the tidal rhythms of Rotting Christ’s music, whilst “The Farewell” peals out a more traditional Heavy Metal riff at its outset. In the main though, Pro Xristou sits in a glorious pocket, confidently marching at comfortable pace, relying on the class and grace of the Tolis brothers to marry barked narration and rhythmic vocal hooks with steady neck-bobbing rhythms, with Kostas Foukarakis an underrated six-string weapon, dancing in and out of chugging underpins with measured light melodic leads.
And they are so, so good at it.
“Pretty World, Pretty Dies” has a bouncy, folky Amorphis-ness before the choral vocals intone and bring us, fist-pumping and voices raised, to the chorus. “Like Father, Like Son” marries a steady mid-paced head-nodding tempo with the kind of melodeath motifs Insomnium would have been proud of (Sakis guested on the Finns’ excellent Anno 1696 opus), Sakis again taking on the role of narrator.
Rotting Christ don’t sound specifically like either Moonsorrow or Amon Amarth, but their warrior heartbeats are hewn from the same spirit, with several overlapping elements.
The majority of the lyrics celebrate those who thrived as spiritual groups before Christ (Pro Xristou), and who have remained, to greater or lesser extents, even despite the popularity of Christianity. In addition, there is a certain wry smile in Sakis, he who signed Thy Mighty Contract with the devil in 1992, role-playing as God themselves, intoning solemnly “and on the sixth day I created man!” before a lead guitar dances throughout and all over another heroic anthem.
What Rotting Christ have done so well in the latter stages of their career, and particularly this last decade, is really excel in their niche; each album is a refinement and a movement around an identity they are comfortable in, without once sacrificing on quality. This is exploration and celebration, not stagnation. Every track is anthemic, but never overtly grandiloquent or showy, maintaining a cinematic and larger than life feeling, as Pro Xristou demonstrates once again that Rotting Christ are dark melodic Metal mastercraftsmen and, still, amongst the best in their field.
Buy the album here:
https://orcd.co/proxtristoupresave
8 / 10
STEVE TOVEY