Rotting Christ
Sleep Of The Angels (Century Media)
by Scott Hefflon
There’s going to be a backlash on Sleep of the Angels, and while I hate to side with those who wish a band hadn’t changed, I don’t think the record goes far enough in its new direction to warrant the change. With a name like Rotting Christ, they’re gonna get labeled a death metal band anyway, so they might as well fuckin’ be one. Or change their name. Sure, they’d lose much of their loyal following, but since they’ve drastically changed styles, they’ll lose those who resent the change anyway.
Sleep of the Angels makes an attempt at Goth rock/dark metal, with whisperingly dramatic vocals and subtle guitar riffing, and that’s not what Rotting Christ is best at (and many, many others are), so they come across as a new band that needs more work in order to be interesting. Subtlety gets boring unless it’s captivating, and Rotting Christ only occasionally touches on a groove that takes you with it. If the band feels this is their calling, I recommend they immerse themselves in the style, leave behind the trappings of death entirely, and go 100% where they feel. This is too part-of-this, part-of-that to really be anything other than a first step to be retracted or followed up on.
(1453-A 14th St. #324 Santa Monica, CA 90404)