ROTTING CHRIST Announces Vinyl Reissue of “Sanctus Diavolos”
Posted on July 22, 2026
ROTTING CHRIST announce a reissue of Sanctus Diavolos their eighth full-length, on vinyl through Season of Mist, set for release on September 11th. Originally released via Century Media in September 2004, the album is the closing chapter of the band’s pre-Season of Mist, Vasilakopoulos-less lineup era, and one of the most extreme, cohesive records the group made in that stretch.
Sanctus Diavolos was the first album Sakis Tolis wrote after the departures of longtime guitarist Costas Vasilakopoulos and keyboardist Georgios Tolias, and he absorbed both roles himself, handling guitars, keys, and vocals alongside only his brother Themis Tolis on drums and Andreas Lagios on bass. Across ten tracks the record moves from the aggression of opener “Visions of a Blind Order” through mid-tempo, riff-driven black and gothic metal, pausing at the string-and-choir interlude “Sanctimonious,” before closing on the sprawling, choir-drenched title track. Thematically, it reframes its central figure as Lucifer the light-bearer, a seductive, welcoming presence, a distinction that set it apart from the band’s earlier work and from most of the genre’s stock devil-worship posturing. Symphonic and choral writing plays a larger role here than on any ROTTING CHRIST record before it.
Pre-order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/RCReissues
The album features a guest solo from Gus G on “Visions of a Blind Order,” and choir arrangements by Christos Antoniou of Septicflesh, performed by a live eight-person choir rather than a synthesized approximation.
Sanctus Diavolos was recorded at SCA Studios in Athens and mixed by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman in Sweden.
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