Album Review: Portal - Anno Mundi (Doom, 2026)

The brand new Portal album still speaks to all the lovers of the traditional doom metal genre. That's surely not a surprise to anyone who has ever heard songs of them. Anyway the newest output comes with some small changes every and there that made me listen closer. At the end of the day I was filled with enthusiasm for the new material.

The new Portal album shows a wide variety of guitar sounds.

This feeling came up through the riffs that are present on "Anno Mundi". Just take the heavyness of Wholly Roller. It's crushing riff rolls right over you. On the other hand it comes with soft vocals and lot's of melody inside all of the brutality. Others then that you've got very high sounding melodies like in "The Bronze Age" along with extended solo sections.

It's also a direct album that comes more to the point. You don't need to think too much around the corner once "Paschal Lamb" is running on your device. It's a compact number but changes towards the end where it goes in a rougher and harder direction. 

If you like to dive deep into guitar sounds then I recommend the title track "Anno Mundi" to your attention. Those layers are going up and down many times and they are much more present in the front of the sound that other tunes of the album. It should make all guitar players listen closer to find out how to play this. 

"A Charmed Life" shows the more faster and grooving side. It calls out to headbang to it and is a pure dose of fun to listen to. It's so fine to hear that the guitars shake the riffs all the time that it's hard to stop listening. 

Finally "Thunderclap" comes a lighter way with softer riffs and vocals. It's a unusual song for a band like Portal but put's a good balance in contrast to most of the heavier album content.

The vocals should be pointed out, too. They are going with more intensity. You can feel that they're sounding more direct and slightly heavier on this album. This put's a much welcomed change into the sound.

You can hear three songs of the record on thedoomportal.com for free streaming. The album is sold as high quality wave files at the shop tab of the website for six dollar each copy.   

Album Review: PORTAL - Old World Order (Doom Metal)

There are many doom metal releases out there. This particular one brought back my interest in this genre by going back to the beginnings without just hanging in the past.

Historic events and wars are topics of the lyrics on Portals Old World Order.

Obviously the sound of PORTAL is based on old-school sound. You quickly feel taken back to the beginnings in the 1970's while sitting back and taking a listen. There's the full distortion coming out of the speakers that's so typical for it's generation. In every creation however you'll find a special melodic light that shines bright.

The song "Condemned to life" dances around in a slow, dark based tonality when it comes to it's basic riffs. But as the vocals start to come into the sound a fine melody adds a special finesse that set's the track apart of other doom metal pearls.

More groove and one of my absolute favorites is the title track "Old World Order". The rough and bright basic riff moves bold through the music. Later on the typical seventies feel jumps onto the music by a mixture of short vocal lines along with the second riff mixing a softer note through the wall of sound. 

Other tracks like "Shape Shifters" go again the slower formula but let the initial riff run into different endings that often end in melodic parts. This is surely going more into the experimental region but gives the music individual notes.

"River of Regret" comes as a more dreamlike number with a balladesque feeling inside of it. 

If you'd like to listen to some of these songs for yourselves go to the website of PORTAL. They are streaming directly on the start page. 

My favorites of the other six tracks were "Expiration Date", "Panic Room" and "Time Drifter" because of it's variation in vocals and the directly accessible song structures. They are amongst the most straight forward tracks and have a good mixture of groove and experimentation with a decent amount of melodies in them. 

Please consider a purchase of the music with a download in wave format available at the shop tab of the bands website. All albums are only five dollar plus taxes so you won't spent too much money on it.

The music has a high re-listen factor and there's lot's of fine details to discover and enjoy even after several rounds of listening. 

All tracks feature Michele Sanna (Jorn, Gamma Ray, Rhapsody, Sunstorm) and Bodo Schopf (Eloy, MSG, Sweet) on drums.