Day: January 2, 2018

Brazil doesn’t seem to be a fertile ground for doom as for the most extreme genres or classic metal, at least at a quantitative level; the quality, however, can’t be questioned if we think of a scene able to offer already established names such as HellLight and Mythological Cold Tower, or more recently affirmed ones such as Jupiterian. Aporya, a band born only last year for the impulse of guitarist Cristiano Costa, who then found his ideal completion in vocalist Tiago Monteiro, tries to enter in such a list: Dead Men Do Not Suffer is the title of their interesting debut, under the banner of a melodic death doom that at times recalls the Clouds-era Tiamat, especially in a song like One More Day, perhaps also to a vocal setting at times similar to that used at the time by Edlund, with a growl not too deep and sometimes almost whispered. Beyond this, it’s clear that Aporya is a project born from the mind of a guitarist coming from classic metal, given the abundant and appropriate use of painful and melodic solo passages that take place, above all, in the second half of the album, really deceptive at its start with a death song tout court (but very remarkable) as Cry Of The Butterfly, which goes to break the initial spell created by the tenuous intro Blood Rain. From The Sad Tragedy (I’m Crushed Down) onwards, the work begins to take the promised coordinates, that is a melodic death doom, elegant but with an emotional impact that is always appreciable, thanks to the combination of guitar lines, the soft support of keyboards and a vocal interpretation that doesn’t overlap in an excessive way to the instrumental textures. Dead Men Do Not Suffer takes its share even more in its final part, coinciding with those tracks in which Costa vents all his melodic feeling combined with a touch of great class guitar; also for this reason the album, while being cataloged under the voice death doom, could prove very attractive for those who appreciate the heavy metal from the most melancholic traits. Ultimately, Aporya turn out to be a pleasant surprise and the landing to the configuration of real band, aimed at the live performance of the songs contained in the album, can only be an added value in the context of a path started in the best way.

2017 – Narcoleptica Productions 2018 – Eclipsys Lunarys Productions / Tales from the Pit Records