Rotting Christ’s “Elthe Kyrie” Will Kick Your Keister

The only downside to making a really, really great record is that making a worthy follow-up is a serious pain in the ass. Just ask Slayer, Machine Head, or Converge: South of Heaven, Unto the Locust, You Fail Me are all excellent albums, but coming after Reign in Blood, The Blackening and Jane Doe, they seemed a little anticlimactic (at least at the time of their release).

Such is the challenge Rotting Christ face with their new album, Rituals: their last offering, 2013’s Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy, may very well have been their best release to date, and, consequently, topping it may be impossible.

Or maybe not! (Rotting) Christ knows that the album’s first single, “Elthe Kyrie,” is encouraging. It sounds like the band is continuing very much along the same path as Kata — more layered production leading to a bigger sound, what seems like a church choir providing backing vocals, massive, galloping riffs, etc. — which is a-okay by me. I was already excited for Rituals, but now I’m extra super-duper excited.

Check out “Elthe Kyrie” for yourself below, courtesy of Stereokiller. Rituals comes out February 12 on Season of Mist; pre-order it here.