Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creating the signature Greek black metal sound prevalent in the early 1990s. History Rotting Christ was founded in 1987 as a grindcore act. They released a series of demos and splits with local bands during their rehearsal era. During this period, the group gradually altered their sound with influence from proto-black metal bands like Celtic Frost and Venom, and in the process became one of the inaugurators of black metal. Their 1989 demo, Satanas Tedeum, presented a crossover between black metal and grindcore. In 1991, the band released Passage to Arcturo, their career-breaking EP. One of band's major debuts was on the 1993 "Fuck Christ Tour", which also featured Immortal and Blasphemy. During this concert, some audience members had engaged in cutting and self-mutilation that resulted in hospitalization. Before signing to Unisound Records (a now-defunct Athens-based independent record label founded in 1992), Mayhem's Øystein Aarseth had expressed interest in distributing the band through his Deathlike Silence Productions label, but due to Aarseth's murder the same year, nothing materialized. The band signed to Century Media in 1996 and remained on their roster for 10 years before joining Season of Mist. Rotting Christ has played in many regions outside their native Greece, including the Americas, Greater Europe, Russia, the United Kingdom, Malta and the Middle East. Several heavy metal festivals around the world have hosted the band, including the 2003 Wacken Open Air in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Past tour mates include My Dying Bride, Tristania, Tiamat, Vintersorg, Finntroll, Agathodaimon, Old Man's Child, Malevolent Creation, Anorexia Nervosa, Vader, Krisiun, Deicide, Behemoth, Melechesh and Nile, among many others. Rotting Christ was one of the first bands announced to perform the Barge to Hell festival, which is a metal-themed cruise organized by Ultimate Metal Cruises and took place aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. Barge to Hell set sail from Port of Miami on December 3, 2012. , Rotting Christ has been around for 25 years and is one of the longest running bands within the black metal genre. In celebration of the band's longevity, the 2-DVD + 2-CD compilation Non Serviam: A 20 Year Apocryphal Story, shot in Athens on December