So, like Sigh’s I Saw the World End-Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV, here is another favorite album of mine from the 2000’s, this time it’s Rotting Christ‘s Aealo from 2010, getting a whole new recording and release.

I never covered the original here, as I covered it for a different webzine at the time, but it made my year-end list for 2010, and still stands as my favorite Rotting Christ album, even with four albums released since then. They found that perfect balance between the hellenic, epic orchestration and burly but melodic black metal that they were starting to deliver a few albums earlier with the likes of Thegonia and Santos Diavalos.

But on Aealo, it all came together for a truly classic album (in my humble opiono of course), and now it’s been redone from the ground up, and like Sigh’s effort, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Production was never an issue in 2010, and on the original, and the additional horns, choirs, and keys were, back then, still pretty fucking lush and epic.

So how do they sound now? Well, it’s even bigger, brasher, and even more epic as Themis and Sakis, tuned everything up to 11, especially the hellenic, ethnic elements that were already pretty heavily featured. Right out of the gate, the title track (which had one of my favorite song openings ever) still has some downright fucking rousing female choirs, now with a few more layers and key changes.

Chunky second track “Eon Aenaos” also has a little more heft and girth, along with various degrees of background layers and synths, which just give the song a whole lot more depth. And that’s sort of how the whole album feels; there’s definitely more going on, certainly when you listen with headphones, and the overall sound is definitely clearer and more polished. But the original had a little more primal, raw energy.

“Δαίμονων βρωσης”, as it did 16 years ago, blends the more melodic, but moody riffage of A Dead Poem or Triarchy of The Lost Lovers, with some dramatic bombast, and now that bombast is just clearer and much more present. Other standout tracks from the original album are still of course standouts, such as the stern militant stomp of “Noctis Era”, now with more chants and choirs, the jaunty duo of “Dub-saĝ-ta-ke” as well as “Fire, Death and Fear”, and fierce closer “Santa Muerte”. All still killer tracks, just with a little more gloss and oomph.

The guest appearances from the original (Primordial’s Alan Nemtheanga on “Thou Art Lord”, Diamanda Galás on the cover of her “Orders from the Dead”)  reappear long with the new sound and artwork, which makes this at least worth a listen if you enjoyed the original.

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