PORTAL: GLORIOUS, HIDEOUS NOISE FROM THE LAND DOWN UNDER
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 3:00pm by Axl RosenbergShame 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
indeed an excellent album
i was waiting for sooooooo long
Apparently Gwar got serious… sorta.
That is a cool hat.
Look for a DVD release from these guys in the near future.
They are indeed genre bending.
scales scales scales…..zzzzzzzzzz
agreed.
actually, i listened to the songs on their myspace and it’s better recorded. good creepy visuals too…
+1
1, 2, 3 o’clock
4 o’clock rock
Hasn’t \m/Eluveitie\m/ mentioned this band before?
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.
Yes, Outre is a must as well. I can’t believe MS is actually covering a good band!
Finally, two other people who appreciate the glory of Portal.
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?
Out of all the fucked up, backwards grind that comes from down under, this is definitely not the top of the list.
agreed. Guantanamo Bay City Rollers. Get in to em.
You should cover gridlink way more. Jon Chan is kind of the man.
what a catchy little number
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.
… 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.
Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s a clock
Clocks are evil…
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.
Good comment sir. That is indeed what some miss to comprehend.
sorry but one of the lamest attempts at genre bending ever attempted.
YES! Thank you for posting this. I’ve known about these guys for a while, they’re so fucking silly it’s amazing.
“GLLLLLUMURPHONEL…..”
Portal is cool. Try some headphones and a dark room…and then try this: Axis of Perdition – Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital
I fuckin love Portal
why do bands feel the need to have stupid fucking gimmicks? shits embarrassing to metal.
This shit sucks and these guys look like asshats. The costume shtick is old – c’mon guys.
If this really is Bivens… why don’t you go and smole a big fat British cock!
Anyone know if they’re doing the Reader’s Choice thing anymore? How do you do it?
They should go to Eurovision contest, maybe they’ll win… Lordi did after all!!
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.
Is the one guy playing an 8-string guitar?
Didn’t some of the members of Cynic play in a side project called Portal? This other Portal is great though.
Yeah that’s right fuckers, get some good old Aus-Metal up ya, yer cunts!
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.