Rotting Christ - Sleep of the Angels

Man, I HATED this first couple of times that I spun it, for it just sounded so pompous, so contrived. I may have been having a bad week or something, because over the last couple of weeks I've all but completely reversed my opinion. So different from their first works (regarded as essential by a legion and fodder by some), SotA relies heavily on keyboards and atmosheric layers to provide the backbone. Sakis's trademark vocals are in place, and the production that was found on A Dead Poem is retained, but no more should Rotting Christ be considered a black metal band, nor do I think that they would want to be. All grown up now, the band comes across as a not quite first rate goth-metal act, only stifled by the complete absence of dynamics in any of these tracks. Highlights would be the guitar sound, and the overall mood of the album, but it's a cold, rational listen, not enticing or inciting in the least. Not quite a new direction from these Athenians, but it appears that a little more time (and possibly a name change) is required to achieve the goals that I assume the band has set for themselves. A fair to better effort, but not a masterpiece by any means, if anything, a little dull.