This Brazilian band lifted its name from Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ. The duo formed at some point this year; Marlon Combate handles the lead guitar and bass, and his partner in crime, Be Misanthropic, does the vocals, guitar, keyboards and drums.

Musically, ADP aim at 1990s black/doom metal with strong essence of Katatonia's and Opeth's first few releases. I personally do not hear much of Rotting Christ's influence, even though these guys point out that that band is one of the main mentors for them (yes, there's a fine rendition of 'A Dead Poem' song), and same goes with Paradise Lost. Starting with the sound of rain and non-distorted guitar, it immediately gets one to 1990s Sweden and Opeth. However, after the intro the mood of old Katatonia lifts its head, too.

Weeping and sharp guitars are chilly as autumn's morn. They present strumming and sweeps, and often there's more than one guitar track happening, weaving nice guitar textures and harmonies. Varying tones offer different moods. The bass guitar provides the rhythm with vivid drumming. The vocals are gravely, rattling throat growling. Everything has reverb into it, giving this a natural vibe. But it's big echoing, and I think it's a bit overdone in my opinion. The effect is still haunting, generally.

The two main songs, 'Spherical Tomb' and 'Without Anesthesia', finely fluctuate from slower to mid-paced rocking with strong melodiousness to it all the time. Both have a very fluidy constitution, yet the former has more so, but the second one has the best riff when the first mutation happens. Both carry eerie vibes. The compositions are nothing like popular music has, so no catchy choruses and such. 'Until the Seventh Day' feels like it's going nowhere at first, but has its big change towards the end. It ends up being most spectral piece on offer.

The influencing bands do not sound like they used to, so there's a market for such music, and A Dead Poem are here to save the day. If you're looking for certain kind of sound, this is a successful first offering.

Rating: 8- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/06/2023 13:57