Band:	Rotting Christ
Album:	Satanas Tedeum
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	June 1989
A review by:	nikarg

01. The Hills Of The Crucifixion
02. Feast Of The Grand Whore
03. The Nereid Of Esgalduin
04. Restoration Of The Infernal Kingdom
05. The Sixth Communion

Exactly 30 years have passed since the first black metal release from Greece came in the form of Rotting Christ's Satanas Tedeum demo. The Hellenic black metal scene is pretty well-known today among the extreme metal circles, but the journey was not an easy one. In order to understand how influential and pioneering this demo was, you have to be aware of the circumstances and the era in which it was unleashed.

Imagine a time with no internet, no mobile phones, when metal music could only circulate through tape trading, scarce radio shows and fanzines. Greece was a rather conservative place to be back then, a Christian Orthodox country where the church was very powerful. Merely having long hair, wearing tight jeans and black t-shirts with band logos was enough for someone to be considered an outcast or a junkie, as far as public opinion was concerned. At the same time, metal and hooliganism used to go hand in hand in the 1980s; in fact, it was quite common for a concert to end with fans assaulting the riot police and vice-versa.

In this unfriendly climate for metal, the band had the courage to choose the name Rotting Christ and they began playing in an attempt to emulate their idols at the time: Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Possessed, etc. After a brief take on grindcore, which spawned two rehearsal demos, they changed their sound to a black/death hybrid that was put on a tape, entitled Satanas Tedeum. The music in it cannot be called brutal (although it is the most brutal thing the band ever did), but it was definitely extreme and had this occult atmosphere that was going to become a trademark characteristic for the local scene in the years to come.

The sound of this demo was so raw and muddy that only trained ears could stand it even back then, but those trained ears would hear that Rotting Christ had the potential to become a truly unique band. Sakis (Necromayhem at the time) spits out the words in an often unintelligible way with his thick Greek accent that has remained roughly the same through the years, although his delivery here would maybe fit better a death metal band. The eerie and mysterious keyboards are also present and sometimes have a choir-like effect, while faint glimmers of melody peek out from time to time. Some hooks are clearly there as well, but the riffs' complexity is largely nothing to write home about, and the same goes for the drumming because the Tolis brothers were not exactly proficient musicians in the beginning of it all. The bass is very audible at times, especially in the opening track, "The Hills Of The Crucifixion", but just seems to hide behind the super-fuzzy guitar in other instances.

Despite the shortcomings, that mainly have to do with performance and sound, the songs are actually quite good and the frequent change of pace in Satanas Tedeum makes it an interesting listen, not solely for historical purposes. Its raw enthusiasm and evil atmosphere marked the beginning of a new black metal movement around the same time when Norwegian black metal was being born. The two scenes undoubtedly influenced each other; according to Kristoffer Rygg of Ulver fame, Euronymous had told him about the slow, dark and sinister "Feast Of The Grand Whore" that it had 'the most evil riff ever'.

Indeed, it did and was the sign of greater things to come.