Band:	Rotting Christ
Album:	Thy Mighty Contract
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	November 1993

01. The Sign Of Evil Existence
02. Transform All Sufferings Into Plagues
03. Fgmenth, Thy Gift
04. His Sleeping Majesty
05. Exiled Archangels
06. Dive The Deepest Abyss
07. The Coronation Of The Serpent
08. The 4th Knight Of Revelation (Part I, II)

Let's go back in time and visit the birth of the 90s. When the Norwegian scene was forming its very own sound and image in the north, in the south at the same time another scene of the same genre, black metal, was developing, the Greek black metal scene. Rotting Christ and Varathron were the two bands destined to define and haunt the overall sound of the Greek black metal scene, yet only one of them would become very known abroad and become nowadays a deeply respectable with a cult past band in the world of extreme metal, Rotting Christ.

After several 7"s, split albums and the almighty "Satanas Tedeum" and "Passage to Arcturo" that were only a taste of what would follow, Rotting Christ signed a contract with the upcoming Osmose Productions, a label with bands like Immortal and Impaled Nazarene at the time. Their legendary debut album, "Thy Mighty Contract", came out at the dawn of 1993 and shook the underground extreme metal scene with its unique identity. The structure of the compositions is quite personal; the guitars are more heavy metal oriented and they have nothing to do with the Norwegian razorblade guitar riffing harmonizing wonderfully with Necromayhem' unearthly voice, Mutilator's nocturnal bass lines and Necromantia's Magus Wampyr Daoloth's simple yet so atmosphere-evoking keyboard melodies that add a sense of ancient times to the overall evil feeling of the album. The production isn't and couldn't be the best for 1993 when black metal was an underground genre still developing, but still, the production of "Thy Mighty Contract" makes the album sound even darker and more evil; the only "negative" option is that the drumming is being performed by a drum-machine without being able, though, to lessen the greatness of the compositions.

The album begins as you are being baptized under "The sign of evil existence", a raging composition with fiery guitar riffing and a really unearthly interpretation by Necromayhem leading to a dark opus, "Transform all suffering into plagues". The guitar work is deeply inspired and harmonizes wonderfully with the ethereal keyboard melodies that float here and there evoking an evil feeling in the air accompanying Necromayhem's eerie voice. "Fgmenth, they gift" follows, a great mid-tempo composition with stunning guitar work that always holds a special place in the track-list of Rotting Christ's live shows. It seems that the one great song comes after the other and "Dive the deepest abyss" is one of them with the guitars along with Necromayhem's eerie voice evoking an unearthly atmosphere in the air.

"Thy Mighty Contract" flows in raging tones with a fiery masterpiece, "Exiled Archangels", and anything I may say is not enough to show how great and inspired this composition is; the guitars, stunning and raging, set the heavens on fire as Necromayhem blesses us under Rotting Christ's cult with his nocturnal interpretation. The heavy metal oriented guitar riffing and Necromayhem's grim voice as some ethereal keyboard melodies echo continue the album in the appropriate way with "His sleeping majesty" leading to the fiery maelstrom of "The coronation of the serpent" with the guitars dancing macabre in the dark evoking a strange melody harmonizing with Necromayhem's, as always, great interpretation strengthening the overall evil feeling. The album reaches the end as "The fourth knight of Revelation" casts his spell of destruction through Rotting Christ's unholy melodies with the guitars painting the soundscape with black colors of the heart, Necromayhem summoning the "fourth of knight of Revelation" and the keyboard melodies that echo here and there completing the ritual.

If you adore pure black metal and you still don't own "Thy Mighty Contract" you are causing major harm to yourself and the first thing you should do after reading this review is to run to the nearest music store and buy it for your own shake!

"Release all wrath, feel it. You're in the sixth communion now, never forget what happened as marked you arrived. Since now, I name you under our cult."