Rotting Christ

During their rehearsal era in the late 1980s, the band began as grindcore and released various demos and splits with other bands from the Athens area. The group would later alter their sound with influence from proto-black metal bands like Celtic Frost and Venom, and in the process became one of the genre's instigators. Their 5 song demo, Satanas Tedeum, would show a grindcore/black metal crossover, followed by their career-breaking EP, Passage to Arcturo, in 1991.
One of band's first major appearances was on the 1993 "Fuck Christ Tour" consisting of Immortal and Blasphemy. During this concert, some audience members had engaged in cutting and self mutilation that resulted in hospitalization. Before signing to Unisound, Mayhem's Øystein Aarseth had expressed interest in distributing the band through his "Deathlike Silence Productions" label, but due to Aarseth's murder the same year, nothing materialized. The band would sign to Century Media in 1996 and remain on their roster for 10 years before joining Season of Mist.
Rotting Christ have played in many countries outside their native Greece, including both Americas, Greater Europe, Russia, the United Kingdom, Malta and the Middle East. Several heavy metal festivals around the world have hosted the band, including the 2003 Wacken Open Air in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Past tourmates have included My Dying Bride, Tristania, Tiamat, Vintersorg, Finntroll, Agathodaimon, Old Man's Child, Malevolent Creation, Anorexia Nervosa, Vader, Krisiun, Deicide, Behemoth, Melechesh and Nile, among many others.
Rotting Christ was one of the initial bands to be announced to perform the Barge to Hell festival, which is a metal themed cruise organized by Ultimate Metal Cruises and take place aboard Royal Caribbean's 'Majesty of the Seas. Barge to Hell sets sail from Port of Miami on December 3, 2012.
As of 2012, Rotting Christ have been around 25 years, one of the longest running bands within the black metal genre. In celebration of the band's longevity, the 2 DVD + 2 CD compilation, "Non Serviam: A 20 Year Apocryphal Story," shot in Athens on December 8, 2007, was released worldwide February 23, 2009.
Aealo, the band's tenth studio album, was released on February 15, 2010 for Europe and February 23, 2010 for the USA.
Rotting Christ is currently working on a new album(KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY), which is due for release in March of 2013.