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.

Single Review: Not Another Prayer - Against the Wall (2022, Progressive Nu Metal)

Beware! This track comes kicking straight through your door. In fact I've hardly heard any band coming out of the speakers so clear and with full of energy.

The roughness at the beginning may feel a bit hard to take first but it fits to the lyrics, since I think we shall feel smashed to the wall first.

The band comments on the lyrics: "The lyrics talk about how we feel "against the wall" because of the restrictions, distorsions and discriminations of society, but we also invite the listener (and also ourselves) to wake up, because everything is falling apart and we need to stop it!"

A fine picture of the band Not Another Prayer.

But it's not just a rush of violent riffs all the way. The clou comes in after half of the duration is gone. The new offering changes it's side into a beautifull melancholic number letting us fly through a dreaming like atmosphere. A lot of work has been put in here you can easily hear with vocal effects and layers added to the wall of sound.

Finally the newest release pumps up some drive again but much less hard than in the beginning. It's more mid-tempo and feels great as a outro.

You can also listen to this song on Spotify.

Make sure to connect to the italian band. Where to will they go next ? How is the next release going to sound like ? I'm looking forward to see and hear.

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