Portal: Vexovoid (2013)

Portal remains perhaps the most difficult band to describe in all of metal.  Their music is so off-the-wall, so off-kilter that deciphering just what the hell is going on in the music is next to impossible.  And yet, their music is infectious, but not in a catchy way.  It is more of a horrific plague.  It is unsettling and disturbing, but it just works.  The band has released five albums now, and I have four of them.  They are quite simply, unlike anything else I have heard.

As I said, describing the music of Portal is next to impossible.  It is like describing a descent into madness.  It is pure auditory chaos.  There is no true structure to any of the songs.  Riffs come from nowhere.  The only constants are a deep, unsettling, primal feeling and a monolithic rumbling.  I am not even really sure I can compare any given Portal album to another.  There is nothing safe or truly musical going on.  The band play instruments in the most basic of terms and there is some resemblance to death metal, though it is far more experimental, almost to the point that it could be believed that the band improvises everything.  I am not certain they don't honestly. 

I am not sure reviewing anything by Portal really accomplishes anything.  I think the band is one that is best explored personally.  Some will love it and call it genius.  Others will call it pure trash and not at all musical.  They might both be right.  Portal is unlike any other band I have heard.  There are some groups, such as Ulcerate and Howls of Ebb, that seem to take some ideas from Portal, but even those are not as maddeningly chaotic as Portal.  I would love to see them live, just to see how the music translates in the live setting.  I will continue to pick up albums by the band, because I find them fascinating in an outsider art sort of way. 

Scary Albums in Honor of Halloween

Okay this one is similar to the Scary Album Covers posts but a little different. This time we're talking about actual albums that are a little frightening from a musical standpoint, albums that curdle the blood and send chills up the spine, albums that are so complex that they sound as if they came from another world. Yes, there are a few, and I'm not referring to the latest from Lady Gaga.

CELTIC FROST: MONOTHEIST

Celtic Frost has always had some spinechilling songs, but on this album, they stretch things over the full course of the record. Even though the band utilizes some clean singing, the vocals are so desperate and cold, that they sound otherworldly. The riffs are typical Celtic Frost bass-heavy riffs that sound like the machinations of Lovecraftian beasts. This album is truly unnerving, taking hold of the listener for over an hour. Once it is over, it is like being able to see the sunlight after days trapped in a cave.

COFFINS: MORTUARY IN DARKNESS

The cover image is frightening enough. Coffins sounds like an even more dark and possessed version of Celtic Frost playing a style of death/doom that is so morosely slow as to actually sound as if it were produced by the zombie-like monsters that so often appear on the band's album covers. The faster tracks sound as if they could have come from Celtic Frost themselves, while the slower ones sound as if they came from the pits of Hell.

DARKTHRONE: TRANSILVANIAN HUNGER

That's the band's spelling not mine. This is a classic album from the Norwegian second wave of black metal band. It features the eponymous title track, one of the most well-known and disturbing songs about vampires in heavy metal. Everything else is minimalist, simple, one riff, classic black metal with an extremely dark atmosphere. Only the title track is in English and not knowing what is being said somehow makes the rest of the songs that much more frightening.

DEMILICH: NESPITHE

Demilich's only full length gives off the atmosphere of being trapped in a dark, dank, moist, cold cave. The music is ungodly complicated featuring numerous changes in time signature and speed as to leave the listener completely disoriented. Then there are the vocals, a sound that can best be described as the croaking of a dying bullfrog.

INCANTATION: ONWARD TO GOLGOTHA

Incantation was one of the early bands that blended death metal with doom metal and achieved a Hellish sound in the process. The band's angular riffs, throbbing bass, and pummeling drums form the backdrop behind some of the most terrifying vocals in American death metal. The atmosphere is as dark as the Satanic and Anti-Christian subject matter. Most occult death metal bands have been trying to emulate this sound for years, but this is the original.

MAYHEM: DE MYSTERIIS DOM SATHANAS

Quite possibly the quintessential black metal album. This album was recorded after the death of vocalist Dead and featuring Attila Csihar's chaotic vocal phrasing and shrieking. It was also recorded before the murder of guitarist Euronymous at the hands of bassist Varg Vikernes. The backstory alone makes it a frightening piece, then there is the cold music itself. This album, along with Darkthrone's above-mentioned album completely changed the course of black metal, changing the focus to simple riffs and dark atmosphere. I love to listen to this album with all the lights off during a thunderstorm at night.

PORTAL: OUTRE'

The music cannot even be described, it is so off the wall strange. Portal pushes the boundaries of metal, and indeed music in general as far as possible. The riffs are chaotic, the drumming seemingly out of nowhere, and the vocals are tortured screams. Portal is one of the most original metal bands to come out in years. I cannot even tell if I enjoy their album or not, it is so strange. All I know is that I feel uneasy whenever I listen to it, and that makes it a prime candidate for this list.

SATAN'S HOST: SATANIC GRIMOIRE:
A GREATER BLACK MAGICK

Satan's Host is a unique band. They hail from Colorado and formed in the mid 1980's when they played power metal with occult lyrics. They didn't last long though and broke up. They reformed in the last few years playing a style of blackened thrash and upped the ante on their lyrics. The band is clearly Satanist and feature many invocations to Satan in their albums. This one is no exception. Musically, they are pretty good, though not as good as other blackened thrash groups, it's when they see fit to add in an atmospheric track that they really get strange.

Strange Album Covers Pt. 4: Horror Again, Only One More After This

I promise, tomorrow will be the last one of these, I just wanted to cover some of my favorite scary album covers.

DECREPIT BIRTH: DIMINISHING BETWEEN WORLDS

Decrepit Birth is a technical death metal band in the vain of Origin and Necrophagist, with perhaps better songwriting ability. This is another cover that reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft. I can't tell if that thing in the middle is supposed to be alive or not, somehow not knowing makes it even more unnerving.

NIFELHEIM: ENVOY OF LUCIFER

Nifelheim is a Swedish band very similar musically to Dissection, in that the band plays a blend of death and black metal. The band utilizes tremolo riffs and blasting drum beats similar to their mentioned countrymen. The band is also blatantly Anti-Christian as shown on the cover featuring the Reaper (not my dog, the Grim Reaper) entering the gates of Hell.

PATHS OF POSSESSION: THE END OF THE HOUR

Paths of Possession is a death metal band with an emphasis on some melodic ability. The band is much more similar musically to groups like Amon Amarth and Dismember than other Florida death metal bands. The band features Cannibal Corpse's Corpsegrinder on vocals. The album is a concept album about a soldier coming back from the war and slowly losing his sanity from the horrors he witnessed and participated in while at war. I can't even explain the artwork, but it is incredible.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: NOCTURNAL

The Black Dahlia Murder is a band from the metalcore movement, that is perhaps unfairly labeled as such. Having heard the band, I am not convinced that they are not more of a melodic death metal band similar to At The Gates. There is not much hardcore present in their sound. The cover is reminiscent of second wave black metal bands such as Emperor and Dark Funeral. It is atmospheric and cold and a little forbidding.

PORTAL: OUTRE

I can't even explain this artwork or this band. All I know is that musically and visually, this band is strange. That's really all there is to say about this.