I guess that Rotting Christ don't need any introduction on MetalBite. With "Pro Xristou" the Greeks released their 13th album in their now 35 year lasting career. Every album has its unique trademarks and "Pro Xristou" also turned out into a very special album with a lot of epic and cinematic elements. Apart from the music the artwork is absolutely stunning, using a lot of ancient paintings together with the lyrics about a very special story that goes back to a time long ago. Enough stuff to talk with Sakis and I guess out came a lot of interesting answers. Enjoy reading!

Michael

Hi Sakis, how are you doing?

All fine here, thanks!!

"Pro Xristou" is your fourteenth full-length album. Did you think that Rotting Christ would exist for such a long time?

I think that the past sometimes is so strong that you can make some of your dreams reality. Many fans ask me what the secret is I always answer that there is no secret. I'm not better than you, it's just a lot of risks and a lot of passion with what I'm doing. It takes time, this is what the new generation should know and learn about. If you want to achieve all of your dreams, it takes time. I feel very well and although I never become rich I'm very rich in my soul which is very important for me.

On the album you go back to the era before Christ. Is it some kind of homage to the ancient beliefs before Christ?

I often visit ancient places all over Europe. Especially when you come from Greece, there are ancient places and monuments everywhere. I always wonder what was going on there and everywhere there is a hidden world, a hidden knowledge. Every country that was not destroyed, all this influenced me very much and also had a strong influence on the new album. Okay, the band is called Rotting Christ but I'm getting tired with all this "Hail Satan" or "Destroy everything". I wanted to write something more mature, something that fits more to my age. I'm 52 and so I wanted to write something about the change of the civilization that Christianity did in Europe.  This is the concept of the album.

I guess it is also a bow to European history? You don't just mention Greek history but also Celts and Vikings in the lyrics, namely in 'Yggdrasil' and 'Saoirse'.

Yes! You're absolutely right.

If I interpret all this correctly, you must probably feel European.

Yes, I'm pro-European. All the hidden knowledge, these civilizations that used to exist before Christ; for us in Greece it is a very special thing that Europe should start thinking about getting back or getting influenced from its roots.

Last Sunday we had the European elections where the anti-European parties won a lot of votes which made me feel really sad.

I know and I follow politics and see that the right parties are getting bigger and bigger in Europe which really scares me. I can understand the fears of the people nowadays. When they have fear, they act extreme. It happened here in Greece when the state went bankrupt ten years ago when we had some real Nazi parties that many people voted for. People think that they can give them a solution. I'm very happy that these parties aren't that popular here anymore. On the other hand the fear of the people makes them feel insecure and so they vote for something that in my opinion will be a disaster for Europe. I believe in Europe, not the Europe of technocrats but in a Europe as one nation, one country. There are so many problems worldwide and I think that Europe should stay united now more than ever! Our civilization starts here, everything about philosophy, Europe is a very important thing in the big human civilization.

Absolutely agree! I was in England last week and I had to queue for over five hours in the bus lane only because of the border control only because they left the EU. But this is such a great thing that you can travel across all the nations, don't have to change money and all this.

Oh yes! I have been a traveler for 35 years and I feel in Europe like being at home. It is something that we got and after many years it will hopefully not be destroyed.

Coming back to your music, you have changed your style since "A Dead Poem" back in 1997 very drastically. When I talked to Fernando from Moonspell lately he told me that one of the reasons they changed their style was being threatened by other "true" black metal bands from Northern Europe. Do you remember why you decided to go this more epic way?

Of course I never was threatened by anyone, even then I wouldn't give a shit. I always paid a little bit into the system and I always was against the trends. I never would change myself for something else. Of course these changes happened physically. I'm getting older, I am a musician and the only composer in the band and so I always wanted to go a step further. This is myself. I always try to evolve the band, I don't know if I succeed in this but for sure I always keep people's attention on a high level because I always give them something different. If you look into Rotting Christ's history you will find five eras. I always try to experiment a lot because I like that and I am always true to my own spirit, where we started. But I like to evolve because if there is no evolution, it dies.

Still there are some Greek bands that keep playing the old Rotting Christ style like Funeral Storm for example. Does it make you proud that they keep the old spirit alive?

Of course I'm very proud that they keep this unique style alive that we started back in the late 80s.

When I first read the title 'Like Father, Like Son', I first thought it would be some Bathory-worship and then I came up with the memory that there was this song by Exodus on "Fabulous Disaster". Did you have anything with these two bands in mind using the title?

No but I am always inspired by Bathory, not Exodus. I like the band but there are no influences from there at all. But I'm really inspired by the pagan-Bathory. It's some kind of homage to Bathory.

Which mood or situation would you presume to listen to "Pro Xristou"? I guess it's not the best when you are driving by car…

Well, why not while driving from Dortmund to Essen or Bochum (laughs)? You know I have lived there so I know it is very busy there. But in my opinion this album is nothing new – you will not listen to any experiments, you won't listen to anything you never listened to before. You will hear a very mature album with quality and which is very soulful. This is very important for me. This is an album that comes from my mind and my soul and I think that it's very well played and produced. It's an album which has the goal that you listen to it from the start to the end.

Haha, yes, I think it's the goal from everybody who writes an album! But for me it wouldn't work listening to it while driving by car because I always get a little bit aggressive then.

Okay, but you have very nice roads there. Believe me when you come down to Athens, I always say I won't get into your fight today and after five minutes I am in total chaos. In Dortmund you have a lot of traffic.

Yes, so that's the reason why I always take my bike. So I am more relaxed.

Perfect! So give it a try tomorrow when you go to your job and listen to the album and let me know if you felt good while listening to it! I want to offer something with my music and some people offer their love to my music. Life is about to offer.

Apart from the very bombastic musical arrangements you have a very beautiful booklet with fantastic paintings which are quite popular. Was it difficult to get the right to use them for the booklet? I remember that Bolt Thrower paid a lot of money for using "The Entry Of The Crusaders In Constantinople" for "The IVth Crusade".

I will tell you a little secret! After 70 years of the death of an artist, everything he has done becomes public. Everyone used this, Bathory, Bolt Thrower, Candlemass…all these bands used these old paintings and of course some other bands already used them, too. On the other hand, I wanted to touch this old spirit that we all grew up with and I felt that a painting can feel very well with the music that I have done.

Did you choose them in some kind of common sense or just because they looked great?

Kind of but it is impossible to have a connection between all paintings. Some paintings are close to the concept of the album.

What are the plans for the rest of 2024 with Rotting Christ?

We celebrate our 35 years. We have already started the world wide tour that started with South America in early February where we were on the road for three months. Rotting Christ means being on the road. It's a live band more than ever and we are always ready to hit the road. And of course I would like to meet our German metalheads that put the album into the charts, just today I was informed from my label that it hit on #35 which is something good for me! And I would like to thank all the people that support our band through all the years.