Initially forceful and ultimately complex, Vexovoid redirects the image of death metal through a dervish funhouse, where the expected shapes have been mutated and multiplied into orders so strange they seem surreal.
Vexovoid is a kind of devotional music for Lovecraftian deities. But more importantly, it evokes them, unseating the listener’s expectations of stability and intelligibility and replacing them with horror and convolution.
Vexovoid justifies the hype hoisted upon Portal’s shrouded shoulders, and through the cerebral nature of the songwriting, which suppresses the band’s urge to just bludgeon wildly, this record is as multidimensional as Portal have ever sounded.
Vexovoid is possibly the most inscrutable, evil-sounding thing to emerge from Australia since Mel Gibson.
Deep discograophy dive #1: Portal
Album 4: Vexovoid
+ is Good
= is eh
- is not good
I actually forgot i was doing this dive, yesterday i was listening to some imperial triumphant and remembered i did this. So around 3 months later i am continuing my portal reviews. I just want to say, this one is excellent.
Portal always had an unique sound, this album is like perfecting that style. They're bringing back the aggression they lacked in their previous two efforts but still remain atmospheric. ... read more
While I kinda get the appeal, wht really turns me off is that this album seems like self-sabotage.
You got this band coming up with pretty good compositions, but then it feels like they're doing everything they can to cover it up, so you can't tell how detailed it is. The production is very noisy and almost to a fault. It turns these songs to a mash of sound and it becomes a very monotonous experience.
I could maybe enjoy some of these songs, but the guys almost ruin it for me. There is barely ... read more
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