Christ 0 is the fifth full-length studio album by the progressive metal

Progressive metal

Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 band Vanden Plas

Vanden Plas (band)

Vanden Plas is a German progressive metal band, based in Kaiserslautern and founded in the mid 1980s. In 1991, they recorded the song "Keep On Running" as an anthem for the local national league football club FC Kaiserslautern, and did the same in 1994 with "Das Ist Für Euch"...

, released on March 31, 2006http://www.vandenplas.de/discography_christ_0.php by InsideOut Music

InsideOut Music

Inside Out Music is a German independent record label based in Kleve, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles music albums.-History:...

. This concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 interprets the novel The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...

, exploring the story of a man imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and following his chain of vengeful murders through the eyes of "X," an Interpol

Interpol

Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

 detective assigned to the case. Throughout the course of the album, both characters come to terms with their goals; X realizes just how similar the nature of his work is to Christ-0's, while 0 repents for the sins of his vengeance and commits suicide. The lyrics make several contemporary references, alluding to modern movies (e.g. Silence of the Lambs) and organizations (Interpol).



The band employed a forty-piece choirhttp://www.vandenplas.de/biography.php for the first time in this album. Lead vocalist Andy Kuntz

Andy Kuntz

-External links:*...

 stated that such orchestral elements were new to Vanden Plas and attributes this experimentation with the four-year wait since their previous album, Beyond Daylight

Beyond Daylight

Beyond Daylight is the fourth full-length studio album by the progressive metal band Vanden Plas. It was released on January 28, 2002 by InsideOut/SPV Records.-Track listing:# "Nightwalker" – 7:33# "Cold Wind" – 5:15# "Scarlet Flower Fields" – 5:39...

.http://www.ytsejam.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3361

Track listing

1. "Christ 0" (Kuntz, Werno) - 5:34
2. "Postcard to God" (Kuntz, Werno) - 6:17
3. "Wish You Where Here" (Kuntz, Werno) - 9:14
4. "Silently" (Kuntz, Werno) - 8:31
5. "Shadow I Am" (Kuntz, Werno) - 5:28
6. "Fireroses Dance" (Kuntz, Werno) - 6:03
7. "Somewhere Alone in the Dark" (Kuntz, Werno) - 5:30
8. "January Sun" (Kuntz, Werno) - 10:05
9. "Lost in Silence" (Kuntz) - 4:19
10. "Gethsemane" (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Timothy Miles Bindon Rice) - 6:18

Bonus Track

The first copies of Christ 0 contained a bonus track, Gethsemane. http://www.vandenplas.de/discography_christ_0.php This track is a cover of a song from Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...

of the same name.

Personnel

• Andy Kuntz – Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Photography
• Thomas Ewerhard – Artwork
• Andreas Lill – Drums
• Stephen Lill – Guitar
• Torsten Reichert – Bass
• Markus Teske – Producer, Mastering, Mixing
• Vanden Plas – Arranger, Producer
• Stefanie Veenstra – Photography
• Gunter Werno – Keyboards