To call Portal experimental is, at this point in their existence, kinda lazy. The Australians have long been ripping death metal from its (un)comfortable hinges and taking it to a place that no one dares tread, and it’s well documented via records such as Outre and Swarth that this collective are deeply disturbing, grossly unnerving and indeed a touch on the pioneering side.
Fervent and dense wastelands of sound strike with hammering blows to the psyche and Kilter begins this short but entirely unsweet journey into complete madness. Vexovoid ramps up Portal’s filth-ridden claustrophobia with clamouring tones of ghastly and merciless cacophony – and that’s just The Curator (inhuman vocals, vehement utterances). Impenetrable walls of noise climb ever higher as Vexovoid progresses towards the dirt-strewn Plasm and its disgusting noise-led closing, which gives this collection of song its grimy, festering atmosphere.
Gathering the darkness, Awryeon swells with drone imbued hell before Orbmorphia splits the mind with stains of disgust and Oblotten’s truly horrific dissonance drives a painful anxiety deep into the withering soul. Portal are no longer experimenting with corrupting your mind… the annihilation is complete.
