...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI...


..::OPIS::..

Oj jak mocno i długo czekałem na nowy album Portal, to nawet nie zliczę. W zasadzie tylko 5 lat minęło od świetnego “Vexovoid” a mnie się zdawało, że to cała wieczność. Dlatego tym bardziej ciekaw byłem, czy uda się Australijczykom utrzymać poziom ostatniego albumu.

Nie oszukujmy się, okładka Zbigniewa Bielaka w swej pozornej prostocie to czysty majstersztyk, który jasno i konkretnie odzwierciedla zawartość “Ion”. Potężne generatory mocy wytwarzające niewyobrażalnie gigantyczną energię przynoszą na myśl samego Nikola Teslę. Geniusza i wizjonera, którego wynalazki zrewolucjonizowały i pchnęły rozwój ludzkości. Jednak Tesla to nie tylko prąd zmienny, ale także ciemna strona nauki ocierającej się o równoległe wymiary i eksplorację ludzkiego umysłu oraz badanie jego najciemniejszych i najbardziej mrocznych zakamarków. Tak właśnie “Ion” oddziaływuje na człowieka. Eksploruje jego umysł, wynajduje wszystko to, co złe i wypluwa na zewnątrz nadając temu przerażającą formę i kształt, tworząc przy tym psychiczny koszmar z którego nie można się wybudzić (“Crone”). Wszystko to zostało zapakowane w kakofoniczną ścianę dzwięku, która skrzętnie budowana jest przez Australijczyków na całym albumie. Paradoksalnie – w tym całym chaosie gdzie zderzające się neutrony riffów i blastów w jakiś sobie tylko znany sposób scalają się i budują harmoniczne drgania – dźwięki płynące z głośników wpadają do głowy słuchacza z niezwykłą lekkością (“ESP ION AGE”). Nie znaczy to jednak, że jest łatwo i przyjemnie (genialny “Spores”) . Nadal jest to muzyczny eksperyment sięgający daleko poza wyobrażenia słuchacza co do kształtu muzyki i sposobu jej grania (“Revault of Volts”). Miejscami Portal jest wręcz asłuchalny, ale nie tak jak chociażby na “Seepia” czy “Outre”, które to były połamane niemal jak Kubica po wypadku. Można by więc odczytać to jako ładunek ujemny na tej płycie, ale każdy kto miał styczność z Portal wie, że w tej muzyce nie wszystko jest tak oczywiste, jakby się zdawało (wieńczący album “Olde Guarde”) co można zaliczyć na plus.

“Ion” pozostaje nadal gdzieś w innym wymiarze muzycznego spektrum, nieosiągalnego dla pozostałych zespołów. Sieje kakofoniczny terror, budując przy tym aurę strachu i sennego koszmaru. Bezapelacyjnie, jeden z kandydatów do materiału roku.

Łysy


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRBfzFO-aT0


Portal’s fifth full-length is an achievement in the realm of extreme metal guitar playing that pushes the limits of avant-garde expressionist tremolo-picked heavy music. ‘Ion’ is abrasive, dense and high-level technical wizardry that initially takes a concerted effort to follow. The intense speed and flurry of guitars are razor sharp black metal in style but backed by vocals seemingly whispered in a wind tunnel. Their tone is piercingly electric as it comes in waves of terror-inducing mid-range noise that inevitably shape themselves into remarkably structured and atmospheric death metal songs.

The riffs are on par with what avant-technical extreme metal bands like Thantifaxath and Pyrrhon explored more recently, though ‘Ion’ is more focused and in turn memorable than either record. If Gorguts‘ ‘Obscura’ was played at double speed it might have resembled this sort of well-shaped discordant stream-of-consciousness metal record. What I think Portal lacks in melody and memorability they make up for with compelling atmosphere and sheer skill. Much of that atmosphere comes from icily gasped wind-tunnel vocals that resemble the whispers of Satan himself in your ears. It is a challenging listen but it’s initially directionless composition lends itself incredibly to repeated listening.

The tautness of Portal’s song-writing seems impossible to top in terms of sheer complexity, speed and dynamic tension. If the band were to accelerate any further in speed or compositional diversity ‘Ion’ would resemble the sound of a giant cheese-grater rubbing hundreds of guitar strings at 200bpm. The avant-technical horror-occult death/black experience of ‘Ion’ transcends technical death metal song structure to the limit of over-complicated nightmare death metal music. My favorite track here “Phantom” manages to create a psychedelic electrical storm of guitar riffs and set it over war metal blasting and brilliant percussion in the middle of the track; followed by the nearly 10 minute roller coaster of “Olde Guarde” that fades out into chaos and rumbling atmospherics. For my taste this is a guaranteed top release for 2018.

GrizzlyButts


Portal is an experimental death metal band that places more emphasis on being experimental than on being death metal... and that works out flawlessly on ION. The album is primarily composed of traditional death metal instrumentation (drums, bass, and guitar) and what I would describe as a more breathy variant of a traditional death growl. The quick and winding compositions are supported perfectly by harsh and lively production that's just harsh enough to impart a serious sense of overwhelming chaos, but not so much so that things become unintelligible. The guitars feel appropriately sharp, and the drums appropriately thunderous in contrast. The Curator (as they call their vocalist) conveys a sense of dread that feels less energetic than other death metal vocalists out there, which actually compliments the excessive energy of the guitars and drums very well. These elements come together to create a haunting atmosphere that can only be described as perfection.

I first listened to ION upon its initial release and can't claim to have been in love with it, fascinated and intrigued, but not in love. It felt like it was so inaccessible that I couldn't even tell you what I did or didn't like about it... yet as the weeks went on I found myself giving it repeat listens almost impulsively. It felt more rewarding that I had to uncover it's many intricacies rather than the answers just being handed to me. With each consecutive listen I found myself slowly making sense (well, some sense at least) of the chaos and becoming quite familiar and comfortable with things that at first glance seemed impenetrable.

Many components of this album are quite catchy once you get to know them; the main grooves of "Husk" and "Olde Guarde" are extremely satisfying, and the eerie vocal refrain at the end of "Crone" gets lodged in my head for days at a time. Portal is very calculative with it's pacing in this regard, however, and no part is ever catchy for very long before you're dunked back into the swirling cacophony. This makes every moment feel significant and allows the album a great sense of dynamics without ever undergoing any major stylistic changes. I appreciate a band using techniques like this as as opposed to simply switching between clean and heavy parts to create motion. The latter is fine sometimes, but I feel that a lot of bands today use clean/ heavy juxtaposition as a crutch and don't explore other methods of creating dramatic transition as much as they could. Let me be clear, this album is heavy all the time (minus the ambient intro, outro, and occasional interlude) and is better for it.

The album's run-time of only 37 minutes is also a huge contributor to it's overall perfection. The short length means there's no messing around and every idea is used to it's full potential without being overused. Additionally, a work with this degree of abrasiveness could run the risk of growing tiresome if it overstayed it's welcome. But this also doesn't mean the album is lacking in ideas because of it's size, this is a dense 37 minutes we're talking about here, and the amount of variety contained within that time is astounding. From the dizzying lead lines toward the beginning of "Phathom" to the anthemic pounding of "Phreqs," there's a lot of diversity on display that one might not initially recognize. This is also helped by moments of intermission like the ambient outro of "Phreqs," and the gorgeous soundscapes that close out the album.

I can only make one small criticism of ION; even though I like vocal delivery and style, I feel that they could have benefited from having the same amount of variety as the instrumentation. That being said, I get the feeling the relative mundanity of the vocals was intentional, therefore I can't criticize them too heavily for this. All in all ION is a masterpiece, and any experimental or extreme metal fan owes it a listen. If you haven't totally clicked with it after a single time through (which you probably wont, I sure didn't) give it a second and a third listen... you'll come around. It's more rewarding for it's relative inaccessibility.

Old Man



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Nth 02:10
2. ESP ION AGE 03:26
3. Husk 03:43
4. Phreqs 04:54
5. Crone 03:28
6. Revault Of Volts 03:53
7. Spores 02:26
8. Phathom 03:12
9. Olde Guarde 09:44



..::OBSADA::..

Horror Illogium - Guitars (lead)
The Curator - Vocals
Aphotic Mote - Guitars (rhythm)
Ignis Fatuus - Drums




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9GdlXnXkIA


SEED 15:00-22:00.
POLECAM!!!