ALBUM REVIEW: Portrait – At One With None

Sweden’s traditional Heavy Metal titans PORTRAIT are back with their 5th album. Set for release via Metal Blade Records on September 3rd.

Ethereal guitars open the album with a resplendent introduction that quickly evolves into ferocious drumming and mean riffs that pack a punch of pure Heavy Metal might. Wailing vocals soon join to haunt the instrumental fury with those epic, grandiose and atmospheric sounds that harken back to the legendary Mercyful Fate in a way that honours the past without stealing from it, per se. This has always been the beauty of Portrait, their ability to feel old but not tired. Killer riffs and powerful drums remain as magnificent as ever while the aforementioned vocals definitely dominate with their screeching melodies that chill you to the bone. There seems to be an almost blackened feeling to the opening moments of this record with some dissonant progressions lurking behind the more triumphant simplicity of the riffs. Definitely leading to an eerie sound that is unapologetically old school and absolutely convincing of the conviction behind what Portrait do, which they do damned well. Lead work gives some more soulful melodiousness to the music while steering things in that brooding and chilling direction with the level of ferocity certainly not lost.

Let’s talk differences, for those who are familiar with this band, what has changed? Well the most noticeable thing is the complexity in the progressions which gives a strong 70s vibe to the record. Now, I do not mean to say Portrait have gone all pretentious with their songwriting nor have they become a prog rock band. This still feels like 80s Heavy Metal with all of bite they always carried, just a bit more intricacy in the construction of their art. This has never been a particularly simple-sounding band as some of the Swedish “NWOTHM” bands anyway, a movement with bucketloads of talent and variety. Portrait can, however, be likened to the German band Attic or perhaps Portugal’s Midnight Priest. Moving forward from subjective comparisons, the production of this album certainly carries on from previous works. Thundery, clunky bass lines with a seemingly huge influence from Steve Harris carry the rhythms of the feisty guitars to give us a supremely strong axe attack while the drumming remains complex and yet digestible and full of power throughout. These instruments are mixed in a gorgeously old school fashion with a warm and welcoming way to allow the theatrical vocals to really play off of them, also referencing Iron Maiden’s dynamic. The riffs however would be more at home on a Judas Priest or Queensryche album than a Maiden one, though neither band feels like a direct or sole precursor to this band, but rather their titanic legacy providing influence as a part of a greater picture.

This album, like the others, is definitely an experience that deserves attentiveness from start to end rather than mere track plays here and there. A twilight falls over the darkened tale until triumphant sounds prevail once more. This method of musical storytelling and conceptualisation is much less common in the modern era, yet clearly can have a magnificent outcome, such as on this very record. Here we see complexity and maturity delivered in an inferno of blistering and exciting Heavy Metal that is as energetic as it is unfathomably fascinating to dig in to. From the eccentricities of the verses to the often anthemic choruses with so many tributaries of instrumental experimentation to get lost in, then returning us to the central of the opus like an awakening from a lucid dream, this album is not only diverse but also rather interactive. While providing something impactful and gloriously enjoyable, this is definitely not the easiest of the traditional Heavy Metal bands approaches, but that only adds to the exciting and obscure feeling of Portrait, where an inquisitive mind is rewarded with bold and beautiful music from the depths of the underworld.

A victorious return from one of Sweden’s most interesting purveyors of traditional Heavy Metal excellence. This album is a rich tapestry of darkness and mystique, delivered with potent songwriting and dynamic musicianship that will grasp any inquisitive Heavy Metallers and take them on a journey that will not be easily forgotten.