ROTTING CHRIST: 35 Years of Evil Existence – Live in Lycabettus
Release Date: 11th April 2025
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Extreme Metal, Live Album.
FFO: Septicflesh, Behemoth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Belphegor.
Review By: Ceta
Despite being a senior band already, Rotting Christ is still staying active. Some would say too active, with albums that, in my humble opinion, have started to sound more and more alike. I might enjoy the band’s formula, but this is getting out of control. However, if there’s one thing the band could use, it would be tighter editing, which is why a run through the best their discography has to offer is a good start. Does 35 Years of Evil Existence – Live in Lycabettus offer that?
From the get-go, this is a long concert—almost two hours of the melodic, hypnotic, and always pagan style that has made Rotting Christ an iconic band within black metal. They’re not the heaviest or even the weirdest; if anything is clear here, it’s that the band has mastered simplicity after all these years and has never needed much to make audiences happy. And obviously, the crowd is happy here. From 666 to Dies Irae, or Like Father, Like Son, the band explores most of the hits within its long career.
It’s mostly an enjoyable ride that diehard fans will love, and though it’s not the first time Rotting Christ has released live material like this, it’s certainly nice to get an update here and there, since you’ll find tracks from their latest album. However, I should mention that if you’re not a Rotting Christ fan and aren’t familiar with most of these tracks to some degree, it’s going to be difficult to sit through the entire length of it. The band has a formula, and despite all these years, you can still feel it clearly. It doesn’t have to be something negative per se, but it’s not going to win over anyone who hasn’t been convinced already.
Overall, this live album gets the job done when it comes to compressing such an epic career into a decent amount of time. Many would say that this is really all you need from Rotting Christ—a greatest-hits compilation with decent live-quality sound. I politely disagree, but if you’re also someone who likes some of the band’s work, this isn’t a bad addition to your collection. Especially if you’re into live albums. Sometimes I feel like live albums have fallen out of favor with most people, but that doesn’t seem to be the case when you’re as massive as Rotting Christ.
(3.5 / 5)
