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PORTAL: GLORIOUS, HIDEOUS NOISE FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER

 Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 3:00pm by

Shame on me for having never heard of Australia’s Portal before. I just got their new album, Swarth (which apparently means “land covered with grassy turf”… metal teaches me a new word again!), last week, and it’s blowing my mind. I don’t even know how to describe it; it’s death metal, I guess, but it’s really pushing the limits of what “music” as a concept is. It almost reminds me of Hate Eternal, but that’s not really fair to Portal or Erik Rutan. They are just a really, really unique monster.

And I do mean “monster.” Like I said, this is really pushing the boundaries between music and noise. It’s just fucking evil, man. I’ll try to write a review one of these days, but in the meantime, I implore you to check out Portal on MySpace and buy Swarth for yourself – it just came out this week on Profound Lore.

And, oh yeah, apparently they wear costumes. Here they are doing the song “Glumurphonel” from their 2003 debut, Seepia.

For the time being it seems that Portal live shows are restricted to their native land, but they have been added to the already amazing Maryland Deathfest 2010 line-up, which will also include Converge, Eyehategod, Melechesh, Obituary, and grind gods Gridlink.

-AR

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  • ripptuff

    indeed an excellent album

    i was waiting for sooooooo long

  • jackattack

    Apparently Gwar got serious… sorta.

  • Sophus

    That is a cool hat.

  • Itheus

    Look for a DVD release from these guys in the near future.

    They are indeed genre bending.

  • gnarlk

    scales scales scales…..zzzzzzzzzz

    • Mike

      agreed.

      • gnarlk

        actually, i listened to the songs on their myspace and it’s better recorded. good creepy visuals too…

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Keith-Brown/537636633 Keith Brown

      1

  • Happy Days

    1, 2, 3 o’clock
    4 o’clock rock

    • Master Chah

      Hasn’t \m/Eluveitie\m/ mentioned this band before?

      • http://uponwingsofblack.blogspot.com/ \m/Eluveitie\m/

        Yep I have, about time they get covered! This is the best death metal I’ve heard in a long time. Definitely check out Outre along with the new album.

        • Ziltoid

          Yes, Outre is a must as well. I can’t believe MS is actually covering a good band!

          • Malacoda

            Finally, two other people who appreciate the glory of Portal.

  • http://www.last.fm/user/groverXIII groverXIII

    What. The. Fuck.

    They’re definitely pushing the boundaries of what is considered music… but that was pretty terrible. The dude with the old-time radio on his head was kinda funny, though. (Assuming that’s what he is wearing on his head… I couldn’t tell exactly.)

    “Glumurphonel” is a fairly hilarious sounding word, however.

    /I paused the new Priestess album for this?

  • meat head

    Out of all the fucked up, backwards grind that comes from down under, this is definitely not the top of the list.

    • shane warne

      agreed. Guantanamo Bay City Rollers. Get in to em.

  • John

    You should cover gridlink way more. Jon Chan is kind of the man.

  • Facebook User

    what a catchy little number

  • http://www.cerebralmetalhead.com Satan Rosenbloom

    I love this band something fierce. The live vid is good, but their albums are just something else — they give off the filthiest, most alien vibe of any metal band I’ve ever heard. Totally at the expense of memorable tunes, yes, but if you’re talking discomfort as an endpoint, there’s nobody better.

  • gibberish

    … The singer’s hat… helmet… thing… looks like the top of the grandfather clock in our living room… Is it supposed to be a grandfather clock?
    Other than that, that was pretty cool.

    • http://uponwingsofblack.blogspot.com/ \m/Eluveitie\m/

      Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s a clock

      • http://buttor.blogspot.com Buttor

        Clocks are evil…

  • Eric

    Portal are indeed excellent. They somehow manage to combine death metal with the dense, almost claustrophobic atmosphere of some black metal. It just sounds evil.

    • http://www.myspace.com/helljoint bloodjunkie

      Good comment sir. That is indeed what some miss to comprehend.

  • OBEY1019

    sorry but one of the lamest attempts at genre bending ever attempted.

  • SourDeez

    YES! Thank you for posting this. I’ve known about these guys for a while, they’re so fucking silly it’s amazing.
    “GLLLLLUMURPHONEL…..”

  • wolfgoose

    Portal is cool. Try some headphones and a dark room…and then try this: Axis of Perdition – Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital

  • http://www.myspace.com/helljoint bloodjunkie

    I fuckin love Portal

  • derek

    why do bands feel the need to have stupid fucking gimmicks? shits embarrassing to metal.

  • SenorBivins

    This shit sucks and these guys look like asshats. The costume shtick is old – c’mon guys.

    • Fuck this Cunt

      If this really is Bivens… why don’t you go and smole a big fat British cock!

  • Beereded

    Anyone know if they’re doing the Reader’s Choice thing anymore? How do you do it?

  • http://buttor.blogspot.com Buttor

    They should go to Eurovision contest, maybe they’ll win… Lordi did after all!!

  • Van D.

    Portal is good and all, but there is no such thing as “really unique,” much less “really, really unique.” Uniqueness is like pregnancy: either it is or it isn’t. There are no varying degrees of uniqueness.

  • Adam

    Is the one guy playing an 8-string guitar?

  • rachel

    Didn’t some of the members of Cynic play in a side project called Portal? This other Portal is great though.

  • Kenin Rudd P.M.

    Yeah that’s right fuckers, get some good old Aus-Metal up ya, yer cunts!

  • charlieb

    awful noise. Its not revolutionary, Evolutionary, genius or even good. Sounds like a bunch of drunk teens banging away on their parents instruments making a racket to annoy the neighbors.

  • DanMunchie

    To the nay-sayers, I say, get some more Portal in you. They are at their best live, and the recorded stuff is best enjoyed in a dark room, so much depth and yet so close and claustrophobic.