You guys really think it's "terrible"? Wow, I am a bigger fanboy than I thought. I definitely don't like it as much as any of their old stuff, but I certainly like it more than stuff like Sleep of the Angels or Khronos. To me it just seems like they really liked the song "Nemecic" off of Theogonia and patterned an entire album off of that vibe....and I liked Nemecic.
As for newbies, listen to Non Serviam and Thy Mighty Contract. Those are the best 2 albums and very indicative of what most people enjoy from Rotting Christ even if they hate their newer material. That said, there are some fantastic tracks on Triarchy of the Lost Lovers (King of a Stellar War is my favorite RC track ever...and actually the track that got me into black and death metal back in 1996). A lot of people hate everything after Non Serviam, but I never understand that other than style change. The music on Triarchy and A Dead Poem, for example, is still exceptional.
Finally, their recent albums Sactus Diavolus and Theogonia are also fantastic and were sort of a breath of fresh air out of the band after being rather bland for 3 albums or so. I would definitely agree that the new album is not among their greatest efforts, but I still like it because I've stuck with them for so long.
Not my style though for those bands...For Greek BM I like the atmospheric approach much more.
