29 June 2024
We are living in times that the inventor names of metal such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are gradually giving up or in other words already approaching the end of their careers. Heavy metal will probably never be that big again. Heavy Metal was invented and shaped by the furious children of unhappy families who had to live under the harsh working conditions of England. But now it is in the hands of a mass of people who will naturally act with different impulses in accordance with the spirit of the time. It is possible to earn a lot of money from social media platforms without putting in any serious effort or by sharing crap.
We are in a period where in many areas exhibitionism and pretentiousness hinder real endeavor, innovation and artistic pursuits. In this respect, the world and we metal listeners need bands that make real bloody heavy metal.
Portrait is a band who have done their best to fill this gap in their 20-year career. They don’t have a bad work, and they have made serious efforts on issues such as pushing artistic creativity and stretching the limits. And their 6th album “The Host” is not an exception by showing the band embarking on a concept story for the first time in their career.
The album is approximately 75 minutes long and has a story that is told to take place in Sweden in the 1700s and is filled with “sword and sorcery”, as the band puts it. When it comes to concept albums, the first name to mention is undoubtedly King Diamond. The band must have wanted to pay homage to King in a sense because vocalist Per resembles King Diamond in many places. Even though his voice color is different, he has a vocal style that switches between thin and deeper voices. He has done a very successful job as a classic heavy metal vocalist.
One of the beautiful aspects of Portrait’s heavy metal style is that they always compose their music in a dark way. They don’t have a cheerful, bright atmosphere. Instead, they create a malignant, ominous musical aura.
As we are used to seeing in select heavy metal bands, they know how to create space in their albums for all members to demonstrate their capabilities within an adequate musical freedom. This is also valid for “The Host”. Throughout the album, you can select all the instruments individually and enjoy them all. For example, the prominent bass guitars in the last song, The Passions of Sophia, are magnificent. Music videos were shot for The Blood Covenant and From the Urn. Especially From the Urn is a very good choice cause it is a great song.
A shining feature of the album is that even if you just follow the musical progression without knowing that it is a concept album, you get the feeling that it might have a concept story. Of course, saluting King Diamond also plays a part in this. All in all, an excellent album from start to finish. What a band!!!
9,5/10
