Portal - Vexovoid (2013)

Portal have been among the most peculiar black/death metal bands since their incarnation in 1998. They haven't been so busy writing material all time, putting out only three full-lengths since, and yet they've maintained their position as one of the most important bands of the last decade. Their minimal use of eight-string guitars might remind one of Meshuggah, while their approach is precisely the opposite. Portal are clearly musical primitivists, and unlike Meshuggah, do not indulge in technical sides of things, whether minimal or not. Likewise, their brand of horror remains not a sci-fi one, but one coming straight from the depth of the Lovecrafian universe. To further intensify their end, they also benefit from a semi-lo-fi production sound that is nowhere as near to the clear-cut, contemporary death metal consensus sound; blending a great deal of noise and electric murk a casual listener might not even be able to grasp the majority of the riffs in the first listen. I can say, however, that "Vexovoid" could be named as their most hi-fi effort to date, since its production is way more clearer than any of their previous releases, but nevertheless it remains, still, way off the consensus. The only disappointing point about the record is that it's a short ride, running around 35 minutes; that is considering it's their first record in four years.