Portal (Australian band)
| Portal | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Genres | Death metal, black metal, avant-garde metal, progressive metal |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Labels | Profound Lore |
| Associated acts | StarGazer, Impetuous Ritual |
Portal is an Australian extreme metal band whose style is an unorthodox fusion of death metal with black metal. 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 guttural 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 four full-length albums to date, as well as a number of EPs and split releases. Their most recent album, Vexovoid, was released in February 2013 on Profound Lore Records.
Portal's main musical influences were Morbid Angel, Beherit, and Immolation. Describing the band's style, Decibel magazine said: "If Morbid Angel and Gorguts had birthed a German Expressionist child, that unholy creature would be Portal." The band has been praised for its "hellish atmosphere" and "distant, obscure" interpretation of extreme metal. Denise Falzon, writing for Exclaim!, described Portal's 2004 EP, The Sweyy, as "extremely raw [...] with heavily distorted guitar riffs that aid in the album's overall chaotic and apocalyptic atmosphere". The band's style has also been described as oriented around "constant dissonance", "sporadic compositions", and "abstract themes". However, lead guitarist Horror Illogium has disputed the view that the band's songwriting lacks structure: "We are indeed making songs, although our structures are unusual. They are constructed with a great deal of artistic, obsessive scrutiny [...] An insane asylum is a structure; our songs can be viewed as structures housing insane elements".
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