If anything Welcome to Hel sounds like a bit of recycled riffage/soloage. RC have been recycling a couple of riffs since Theogonia and Aealo (I can even present examples by name) but honestly, it's so fucking great I don't think anyone minds. So that means yes, I'm looking forward to the bonus track too.

Took this from the FFA.

While I'm inclined to agree that it would be cool if they kept progressing to something else, I'm also heavily set on disagreeing based on this song alone. This is probably my favorite track they've written since "He, The Aethyr" off Theogonia. Simply put, this track rules. Not wholly different from what they've been doing now, but the atmosphere and the leads are so compatible in this. When those leads kick in half-way through, I was in love.

Yes. It. Was. I am definitely getting this.

Another song has been posted, and fuck, its simply brilliant. I still dont like so much the vocals but the rest is amazing.

Yeah, Grandis Spiritus Diavolus is on YouTube now. It's fantastic. Im not linking it because I know some people would rather buy the album first before having YouTube spoil everything for them. I will say that I'm tired of hearing that same solo though.

If there are people who don't want "YouTube spoil everything for them." then they won't click the link. People aren't required to click a link just because there is one.

I don't think you will disagree that biting the apple is far more tempting when it's right in front of you. I don't want to turn this into the album leak thread.

I'll link it for the people who want to hear the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjGnDbne4eY This is one of the best Rotting Christ songs of all time. I'm calling this album of the year, top 3 at LEAST!

This last song is totally addictive, a mid tempo with a great main melody, RC as its best!!

The album leaked!!!!
Gonna listen to it now, my body is ready.

For those that want to still hear the album, it's up for full-stream here:

http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/rotti ... um-stream/

Needless to say, Rotting Christ rule 2013.

Edit: Well, first listen with the rest of the album, and I'll say that there's a dip in quality around track 6 through 8. Once 9 comes in it's back to kicking ass.

Since the first moment I got to hear the Rusalka sample on some website I knew it was gonna be a brilliant song, nothing short of incredible.
I actually consider tracks 6 and 9 as a slight dip in quality, everything else is flawless if you ask me.

Holyshit, I'm gonna get around to listening to that for the rest of the day!

Thanks for the heads up!

I might end up having to buy this album

6 songs listened, I dont need more, this album rules.

the bad thing is that I have to decide between a jewelcase edition and the box edition. The should have released a digipack edition(you can only buy it if you buy the box and its not so interesting).

I guess this is where I start checking out Rotting Christ in earnest. I saw them on tour with Melechesh, but their sound was terrible. Plus, it was for Aealo or whatever it's called, and I had heard it wasn't a very good album. But if this one has strong Hellenic elements and doesn't suck, it ought to be worth my time. Gonna check the stream after work.

Yes! I made the thank you credits!

Who would've figured this back in 1996...

It's official: Rotting Christ is the most consistent metal band, ever. I mean, I could have made that claim for myself even when Aealo was released (it was one of their weakest if not the weakest, and I would rate it at around 80-82%~), but this album is just ruthlessly fucking good. 4 spins in, and I am really impressed. The atmosphere is really excellent and rich, the songs are all written extremely well, be it the brutal parts or the more melodic parts. And all the "epic" Greek-folk influences are really well done this time around, resulting in textured songs that are enjoyable from the get-go but which get better (even as I'm writing this) on further listens. Fuck this is so good. It's ridiculous to think about the fact these guys have 5 or so total masterpieces under their belts, and not a single non-solid album.

I am purchasing this album for sure as an addition to my RC collection.

I just really wish the artwork was better. C'mon, they wanted to make this darker (which it isn't), but THAT'S what Sakis picked?