Band:	Rotting Christ
Album:	Κατά Τον Δαίμονα Εαυτού
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	March 01, 2013
A review by:	wormdrink414

01. In Yumen - Xibalba
02. P'unchaw Kachun - Tuta Kachun
03. Grandis Spiritus Diavolos
04. Κατά Τον Δαίμονα Εαυτού
05. Cine Iubeşte Şi Lasă
06. Iwa Woodoo
07. Gilgame-
08. Русалка
09. Ahura Mazdā-Aŋra Mainiuu
10. Χξς'
11. Welcome To Hel [Vinyl & Digibox bonus]

It's not because he's a ginger that I don't like Dave Mustaine. At least, I don't think it is. Not per se. It's because of stuff like refusing to play on the same bill as a band called Rotting Christ that I think he's a bit of a fuck. It's one thing to do or not do something out of principle, that's respectable, it's another thing to be a bit of a puritanical fuck about it.

It's especially true now when the band called "Rotting Christ" plays as inoffensive sounding stuff as this. I know they had more of an edge back in the day, but they've been moving slowly but surely to this kind of non-black, hyper-melodic and slower sounding stuff for a while.

And that's not in any way a bad thing on its own for these guys; this doesn't suck and it isn't anodyne. This is addicting, catchy, fairly evil sounding, semi-drink-alongy, semi-sing-alongy stuff, some of which has been stuck in my head since I first put it on. Some of the more wah-ing riffs on this are groovy in the best kind of way, and the opening track has one of the best simple tunes I've heard in a while.

I'm guessing this disc will be really appealing to those who like a little foreign, oriental-esque passages in their metal (I'm thinking the crowd crossover I see between big folk/viking metal shows and Behemoth and Nile gigs, myself included in that). Their addition creates a layer of ominousness to the tunes here, but they're never really unnerving or foreboding. They sound cool in a non-punishing way. They're pretty sugary in the end, but this album still has enough power to it (some of the vocals, in particular, sound especially forceful).

Kata is for people who don't mind listening to a little more catchy, cleaned-up extreme(ish) metal. It gets too repetitive, yeah, but when it runs on all cylinders, it's epic as hell.

Highlights: "In Yumen - Xibalba" and "Ahura Mazda."