Rotting Christ — Bloodstock Open Air 2016

On the afternoon of August 13, 2016, Greek black metal takes over the Ronnie James Dio stage at Catton Park. Rotting Christ arrives at Bloodstock six months after Rituals. The band shares Saturday's bill with acts such as Paradise Lost, Gojira and Mastodon, but keeps its set to ten songs.

Sakis Tolis handles vocals and guitar alongside George Emmanuel, with Vagelis Karzis on bass and Themis Tolis on drums. Ze Nigmar leads off a set featuring three tracks from Rituals. The set reaches back to The Sign of Evil Existence and The Forest of N'Gai without leaving the recent material behind.

Societas Satanas brings the show into the orbit of Thou Art Lord, another of Sakis's projects, before In Yumen-Xibalba and Noctis Era close the set. The full recording begins circulating in March 2017 as an audiovisual document of the festival. This is not an extensive retrospective: it is a snapshot of a band in motion, between new material and its roots.