PORTAL – Swarth

If an album is clinically produced and the sound is sterile, can we then speak of death metal? I mean, no matter how cool Hate Eternal, Origin and Cannibal Corpse is, we cannot speak of music with the stench of putrefaction, now can we? Personally I do listen to the aforementioned bands on regular basis and I enjoy these sessions. Great music, great musicianship and clear and present production. But do these bands give me the feeling of death?

Portal from down under (I’m situated in Norway) is definitely a band that reeks of putrefaction. I really liked "Seepia", I love, in the sense that you really can love a death metal release, their former "Outrè" and now they’re back with "Swarth". This is another dive into the black abyss. There’s not a single riff or section herein that makes me smile in joy. There’s basically just this floating feeling of walking in the mud, of being stuck in the quicksand, of being ripped apart. It’s another one of Portal’s one-way journeys to Hell!

The music is at times reminiscent of heavy Morbid Angel. At other times I get the feeling of Disembowelment. But most of the time it’s Portal, and nothing else. It’s pure death and it’s so dark and ugly that I’m sure the Devil herself will be careful to pay a visit. However, if you just go for an easy listening session, I’m sure you’d think of this as pure noise. Mind you, the album is a stinking grower that needs several spins to reveals its agenda.

The agenda, you ask? It’s to inform you by music that life sucks, you suck, everybody sucks and well… Life is life, and then you die!

PS; this album was released in Autumn 2009 by Profound Lore. Invictus releases the European version.

www.myspace.com/the-portal
http://invictusproductions.net
www.profoundlorerecords.com