Portal
Suffocating, murky death metal that feels like being buried alive in a Victorian clock. A dense, terrifying wall of atonal sound for the truly brave.
Suffocating, murky death metal that feels like being buried alive in a Victorian clock. A dense, terrifying wall of atonal sound for the truly brave.
Listening to Portal is less like hearing a band and more like being subjected to a sensory deprivation tank filled with static and old machinery. The guitars don't play riffs in any traditional sense; they create a churning, underwater vortex of distortion that feels thick enough to touch. It is music that prioritizes dread and atmosphere over melody, sounding like the collective nightmares of the silent film era translated into extreme metal.
What truly sets them apart is their commitment to a specific, 'Vint-Age' horror aesthetic. While other death metal bands scream about gore, Portal whispers about cosmic horrors and esoteric technology. The vocals are often buried or heavily processed, sounding like a malevolent spirit speaking through a broken shortwave radio. The drumming is inhumanly precise, providing a mechanical heartbeat to the chaotic, swirling guitar work.
For those new to this abyss, ION is the most accessible entry point due to its sharper, more 'crystalline' production that reveals the technical wizardry beneath the murk. If you want the full, suffocating experience, Outre' remains a landmark of modern extreme metal, offering a masterclass in how to use sound to create genuine, unadulterated fear.
Portal is an Australian extreme metal band whose style is an unorthodox fusion of death metal, black metal, dark ambient and experimental music. The band's hybrid musical style is characterised by heavily distorted guitar riffs, down-tuned rhythms, and vocals ranging from "menacing, echoing" sound effects to death grunts. Writing for Popmatters, Adrien Begrand noted that "death metal always pretends to be scary, but [...] it's all rather harmless. That said, however, I make no mistake in saying that the death metal peddled by Australia's Portal is truly friggin' terrifying". Lead guitarist Horror Illogium has described Portal's intent as "to capture a cinematic horror scope". They have released seven full-length albums to date, as well as a number of EPs and split releases. Their most recent albums, Avow and Hagbulbia, were released in 2021 on Profound Lore Records.
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