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Portal: Seepia

13/07/11 || The Duff

Portal have been making waves since their sophomore effort “Outré” in that they’ve been accredited the sonic version of Hell on Earth, mixing old school stylings (á la Morbid Angel) with a dark aesthetic that focuses on all the wrong sides to our psyche. I think such to be an overblown description of what Portal are about, in my mind simply a case of extremely produced, raw and twisted death metal that sounds like razor blades across the ears first couple of listens but in the end is an hypnotic affair that lures you into quite the darkened trance provided you give it the attention deserved. Yeah, still quite Hellish, I’ll give you that, but of a more supernatural or otherworldly nature, not so much “Holy shit, the bombs are dropping and fissures appearing in the Earth; Satan is coming to rape us all!” in an Anaal Nathrakh sense.

This band’s early debut album appears to get some stick in that the production is quite the repellent affair, but really the music is incredibly inhospitable and the way presented on “Seepia” not entirely detractive – ultimately, the riffs are going to contort agonizingly one way or the other, the fact you can’t hear much unless devoting utmost care to what’s being played returning dividends in that such music is supposed to be a draining case to sit through, transporting you to realms altogether claustrophobic and austere. You’re not going to find anything catchy here with the exception of 1:47 into “Transcending a Mere Multiverse”, which is a moment to stand still and bang the head following an enrapturing, offensive barrage-shit-storm of chaos both dissonant and ugly.

So is this for everyday use? In so much as Gorguts’ “Obscura” is – what lies beneath is a gem that cleverly masquerades a fine mastery of sonically clashing frequencies and attention to detail as remorseless noise. Once you get your head around it, the death metal on display here is a unique take on the tried and true, but there is also a captivating majesty about the record, the production making it feel like a battering about the skull but with one fine thread of comprehensible beauty throughout. Despite its blunt-force delivery, the music is subtle, playing off the fragility of mind and making you question how much more of it you can take, at what point did this become music and are you insane for enjoying it, but when listened t’pon deeper there’s an almost peaceful calm amidst the turbulence dark and unsettling though the music is.

It’s not as if Portal are unaware as to how strenuous a sitting through their tone of tossed distaste can be, hence why they keep the record duly short with seven tracks coming in at roughly half an hour. They cram a lot in, with riffs seemingly without structure and almost unbearable endlessness initially but that in time take to form malevolent, mesmerizing energies; the musicianship is not spectacular, but it’s definitely original and should I say harrowing despite its simplicity (and YouTube videos of live performances would indicate the band are very practiced, simply holding back for the most part); mixed with the dry, strained and infuriated vocals of The Curator, we have a persuasive mix of hateful and demented, what it must be like sitting in the middle of a cyclone of restless souls. “Seepia” is both great and terrifying, a recommended listen in that the band following this never reproduced such a fine mix of the blurred and the detailed.

Information
Released: 2003
Label: Blacktalon
Website: Portal MySpace
Band
The Curator: vocals
Horror Illogium: guitars
Werm: bass
Mephitic: drums

Tracklist
01. Glumurphonel
02. Vessel of Balon
03. Tempus Fugit
04. Sunken
05. Atmosblisters
06. Transcending a Mere Multiverse
07. Antiquate
08. The Endmills

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