On December 13th internationally, Personal Records is proud to present A Dead Poem‘s highly anticipated debut album, Abstract Existence, on CD format.
Hailing from Brazil, A Dead Poem was formed in 2023 by Marlon Combat, with the aim of rescuing the essence and atmosphere of doom / black metal as practiced by Katatonia, October Tide, Finland’s Rapture, and especially Paradise Lost and Rotting Christ during the early ’90s. Starting the compositions for the first record, he invited the experienced multi-instrumentalist Carlos Misanthropic to take over the vocals and other instruments, thus forming a duo with the same goals and with extreme musical harmony.
With that, A Dead Poem gathered enough material to produce the funereal and macabre debut single “Until the Seventh Day,” which is part of their debut EP Absence of Life, first released on digital platforms in November 2023 and then as a limited CD edition in early 2024 via Cold Art Industry Records. Thereafter, the band’s music gained interest from the eclectic Personal Records, who’s now set to release their debut album.
Aptly titled Abstract Existence, A Dead Poem‘s debut album is a tour de force of vintage vibes – the velvety, incense-choked essence of 1993, when gothic doom, black metal, and melodeath briefly comingled and crossed DNA. One could point to such classics as Paradise Lost’s Gothic, Katatonia’s Dance of December Souls, or indeed Rotting Christ’s later dark-horse A Dead Poem as the firm aesthetic foundation on which the duo build their darkly emotive anthems, but A Dead Poem the band keenly understand subtlety and restraint, allowing each of these seven hypnotic songs to slowly work their spell and drown the listener in a sorrow so deep, you can practically feel the era-authentic black turtleneck closing around you. No more but definitely no less, Abstract Existence is an exercise in purity, of offering tribute to and tastefully embellishing an exclusive canon: mighty times when the subgenre was experiencing the paths to choose, establishing its own dos and don’ts. Sealing that authenticity is the exquisitely mossy ‘n’ dingey production, wringing every last dour note for all its worth.
Personal Records stands for Darkening Metal, and none’s more “darkening” than A Dead Poem‘s Abstract Existence!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Before the Rising Sun” HERE at Personal Records‘ Bandcamp. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for A Dead Poem’s Abstract Existence
1. In Forgotten Dimensions
2. Abstract Existence
3. Before The Rising Sun
4. Dressed In Black
5. Obedience
6. Prayers To The Void
7. Silent Tears Fall
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