PORTRAIT
“The Host”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Portrait are a heavy metal band from Sweden formed in 2005, releasing six albums to date – ‘Portrait’ (2008), ‘Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae’ (2011), ‘Crossroads’ (2015), ‘Burn The World’ (2017), ‘At One With None’ (2021), and ‘The Host’ (2024).

Founded by guitarist Christian Lindell and drummer Anders Persson, the bands line-up is completed by vocalist Per Karlsson, bass player Fredrik Petersson, and (second) guitarist Karl Gustafsson – the new album an incredible one hour and fifteen minutes in length featuring fourteen songs! An amazing offering I’m sure you’ll agree, and one that holds your attention right from the off to the very last second. ‘The Host’ is “a concept album, with the story taking place in 17th century era Sweden, revolving around an unnamed protagonist who, because of his experiences with the injustice and hypocrisy of this world, decides to seek truth and strength through its adversary” comments Lindell. Roaming round every nook and cranny of the heavy metal genre, Portrait deliver something for every metaller, from fast paced to anthemic and everything in-between. ‘The Host’ is a remarkable listening experience, all coming to life with the sub two minute, eerie, and haunting instrumental ‘Hoc Est Corpus Meum’…

…the band surging forth with phenomenal pace courtesy of (album opener proper) ‘The Blood Covenant’. Portrait are at full tilt here, shuddering the ground and rocking the heads back and forth of every listener, fan and follower faster than a fucking speeding bullet! A breath taking opening barrage from the Swedish outfit, the band storm on with the hustling, bustling ‘The Sacrament’, Portrait dropping a gear to stride on with immense majesty and intense fervour! The opening double has been emphatic and head turning, every listener sitting up to take notice of a band on fucking fire – ‘Oneiric Visions’ entering the fray with a highly regal feel, the machine gun riffing hitting harder than a tonne of bricks hitting the ground from a staggering height! The full on intensity since ‘The Host’ began has been of the highest level, Portrait tightly holding the attentions of a worldwide audience.

And all of a sudden. every ounce of oomph and bombast is dropped in favour a hymn-like swagger, ‘One Last Kiss’ strolling along the border wall of ballad country. However, the band remain one step away from falling fully into balladry, ‘One Last Kiss’ remaining hymn-like with just a little sprinkling of anthemic metal thrown in. Pace and power make an immediate return with the melodic metaller ‘Treachery’, the band pressing the pedal to the metal to echo the classic sound of galloping traditional heavy metal. The head bang ability here is mosh pit friendly, Portrait offering a gentle neck workout rather than a vigorous one! And picking up the pace even more, ‘Sound The Horn’ is a frenetic foray of thrash fuelled heavy metal, Portrait expanding their metal remit to attract thrashers as well as traditional metallers into the bands soundscape.

The band have been on an unstoppable roll since ‘The Host’ began, ‘Dweller Of The Threshold’ keeping the breath taking momentum rolling with an increased level of head bang ability – Portrait speeding faster than the speed of fucking light to delight every mosh pit in the world! The diehard head bangers are gonna love this one, after all, it’s what we live for in the realm of heavy metal music! That’s right readers, I’m a diehard head banger too – and have been for over forty four years! That’s forty four years of honing my head banging skills to a level where I can even head bang in my sleep! And not wake up! So come on Portrait, gimme some more head bang ability – the band not disappointing either with the old schooler ‘Die In My Heart’ keeping my head rocking back and forth. Yours too I’d imagine! There’s simply no escaping the bands unabashed and unbridled metal mentality, ‘The Host’ a masterclass of high level intensity and an immense infectious level. And with more thunder than anything heard so far, Portrait shudder the ground with the foot stomping anthem ‘Voice Of The Outsider’, even adding touches of Black Sabbath doom and Dio elegance to the anthemic aural avalanche – ‘Voice Of The Outsider’ turning on its heels after a minute and a half to roar forth with all the power metal pomp of eighties-era Helloween! Throughout ‘Voice Of The Outsider’s faster moments, the iconic sound of the legendary German metallers can easily be heard.

‘The Host’ is acting like a huge magnet, attracting metal fans from all over the world – the band maintaining the sky high intensity, head bang ability and infectious levels with the bustling ‘From The Urn’. Portrait stride tall and proud across every inch of metal territory, the band not content to remain in just the one spot! The variation in metal styles on offer so far has been mesmerising, I’ve lost count and can’t be bothered to re-start, the music on show capturing my full attention. And it’ll have yours too, ‘The Men Of Renown’ maintaining the albums recent bustling nature – albeit at a much more traditional pace and feel. In fact, even the guitar tone is buzzing like it’s 1984 when the iconic NWOBHM evolution was as its peak with the likes of ‘Powerslave’ (Iron Maiden), ‘Defenders Of The Faith’ (Judas Priest), and ‘Crusader’ (Saxon) taking the world by fucking storm! And let’s be honest, without these three bands we wouldn’t have the metal sound we have today – ‘Sword Of Reason (The Steel Of Revenge)’ the most frantic song on offer! And with the least melodic feel too, not that it’s a bad thing, hell no! The gear changing tempo changing swagger throughout ‘Sword Of Reason (The Steel Of Revenge)’ is gonna keep every listener on their toes guessing as to which direction the band will turn in next.

Every song heard up to this point has been between four and a half and five and a half minutes in length – the albums show stopping finale clocking in at an incredible eleven and a half! And to be honest, I can’t believe we’re at the hour mark already, the heavy metal on offer has been that fucking good I’ve lost track of all time! So the final song ‘The Passage Of Sophia’, opens with a phenomenal and atmospheric scene setting feel that could easily grace a Hollywood blockbuster – the band powering into life after three minutes to ooze a majesty not heard previously! And apart from all out speed, Portrait showcase every style of metal they have in their vast arsenal, ‘The Passage Of Sophia’ worthy of a standing ovation.

Overall, a fantastic album of high energy, high octane heavy metal with tonnes of head bang ability and an immense infectious level.

TRACKLIST

Hoc Est Corpus Meum (intro)
The Blood Covenant
The Sacrament
Oneiric Visions
One Last Kiss
Treachery
Sound The Horn
Dweller Of The Threshold
Die In My Heart
Voice Of The Outsider
From The Urn
The Men Of Renown
Sword Of Reason (The Steel Of Revenge)
The Passions Of Sophia

https://portraitsweden.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/portraitsweden/

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