PORTAL OF I

The first LP by this Australian 'Extreme Progressive Metal' band, three tracks of which were first recorded for their debut EP, The Aurora Veil (2007). They perform mostly longform Extreme Metal, with brutal delivery, more avant-garde layering and moreso Blackened Death Metal vocals.

The album doesn't skip a beat with their choice of opener, "Tapestry of the Starless Abstract", a brutal assault with great vocals and relentless instrumentation [the surefire highlight for me]. There are some nice, higher pitch clean vocals throughout. The half-time groove approaching minute 3 was a certain notable part. It is thereafter that we get our first violin section. Beautiful stuff. All falls away to a serene, very classic acoustic arpeggiation. Hereafter, the drums are such a solid force. The clean vocals take the close. An excellent performance.

"Xenoflux" also wastes no time. Initially far more a straight delivery, around 2 minutes there is a really nice, really queer shift. Very effectively creepy showing from the violin here in the midsection... This was certainly deceivingly simplistic at the start. The composition falls away to a bass(?) arpeggio section over a sweet groove with a violin solo. A markedly melodic guitar solo closes things out underneath deathly growls. Awesome stuff. Next, our shortest track, "Of the Leper Butterflies", at just under 6 minutes, is a rapid ascension from relative minimalism. This is an interesting duet between clean and unclean vocals. Great groove over a relatively straightforward main riff. Yet another melodic guitar solo, even relatively clean (over acoustic guitar and softened bass), to close this one out.

"Forget Not", currently their second biggest song on Spotify, begins light on classical guitar and light cymbal clangs. The violinist, our clean vocalist, Tim Charles (I have to wonder their influences for the instrument), is excellent here. The instrumentation remains as the groove shifts. Gradual build here... Really good stuff. Honestly, one of the more straight compositions thus far, but it is just so well done. Then it's on to their top-played track, "And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope"... whatever that means haha. And as I said of the start, they really haven't skipped a beat throughout. Super consistent, and, if it hasn't been clear thus far, consistently excellent. This track really is no-nonsense. Straight ahead, though at a risk; I honestly feel it's therefore less interesting, and funny enough one of the weaker tracks (though still very good). Definitely one of the places where I definitely get the Opeth comparisons, by the way.

Differing in tone from all that came before, "As Icicles Fall" features clean vocals over straightforward, cleaner instrumentation. Charles has a really nice voice, seriously; a very, very capable vocalist. Once more, a slow build to heaviness and more brutality, but this is more a melodically-focused number. Not super exciting in the first half. Things do pick up, as mentioned, and there's a really really nice solo from Benjamin Baret on lead guitar, really an accomplished player. Another one that isn't quite 'highlight' material. Finally, we have "Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise". A 'petrichor', as it were, is that pleasant smell you get after a much-needed rain. The more you know. We are right into the brutality after a moment of silence... Relentless. This track is more classically Extreme Metal, but features throughout a nice groove and more loveliness from Charles. Anyways, in tone and in composition, a solid track to close things out (especially when comparing it to the two before, those being the weakest of the bunch, in my opinion).