Portal (metal band)
Encyclopedia
Portal is an Australian extreme metal
band known for its unorthodox fusion
of death metal
with black metal
. The band's hybrid musical style is characterised by heavily distorted guitar riffs, down-tuned
rhythms
, and vocals ranging from "menacing, echoing" sound effect
s to guttural grunts
. The music has been compared to, "among other things, a leaf blower
, a vacuum cleaner
and an 'aeronautics tunnel
'." Describing the band's style, Decibel magazine said: "If Morbid Angel
and Gorguts
had birthed a German Expressionist
child, that unholy creature would be Portal." The band members keep their identities obscured and instead use stage name
s, The Curator (vocals), Horror Illogium (lead guitar), Aphotic Mote (rhythm guitar), Ominous Fugue (bass), and Ignis Fatuus (drums). Their costumes differ from the heavy metal fashion
and look like "suits and executioners' masks save for vocalist The Curator, who wears a huge, tattered wizard's hat
that obscures his face."
The idea for these costumes were developed between The Curator and Horror Illogium, inspired in the fashion of the 1920s
, as well as the imagery
created by actor Lon Chaney, Sr.
in a few of his roles from the silent film
era, which according to Horror Illogium was the ideal figure for what the band wanted to portray. The band cites as inspiration for its lyrical themes the entities mentioned in Lovecraft Mythos, such as Nyarlathotep
, Yog-Sothoth
, Azathoth
, and Cthulhu
. The most prominently musical influences from the band's formative years were Morbid Angel, Beherit
, and Immolation
. Since its foundation in 1994, Portal have "steadily built an underground
cult following
via its legendary concerts and consistent output throughout the 2000s," including the extended play
s The End Mills
(2002) and The Sweyy
(2004), and the studio album
s Seepia
(2003), Outre'
(2007), and Swarth
(2009). The band's releases have been criticised for their "lack of production quality, unrefined, murky sound and overly disturbing atmosphere," while it has also been stated that Portal "reach back to truly old-school ideas[ as few bands do] and are forward-thinking for it."
Former
Source
Extended plays
Demo albums
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band known for its unorthodox fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
of death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
with black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
. The band's hybrid musical style is characterised by heavily distorted guitar riffs, down-tuned
Musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
rhythms
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
, and vocals ranging from "menacing, echoing" sound effect
Sound effect
For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
s to guttural grunts
Death growl
A death growl, also known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, and harsh vocals among other names, is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal and black metal music genre, but also used in a variety of heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres.Death...
. The music has been compared to, "among other things, a leaf blower
Leaf blower
A leaf blower is a gardening tool that propels air out of a nozzle to move yard debris such as leaves. Leaf blowers are usually powered by two-stroke engine or an electric motor, but four-stroke engines were recently introduced to partially address air pollution concerns. Leaf blowers are...
, a vacuum cleaner
Vacuum cleaner
A vacuum cleaner, commonly referred to as a "vacuum," is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and optionally from other surfaces as well. The dirt is collected by either a dustbag or a cyclone for later disposal...
and an 'aeronautics tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
'." Describing the band's style, Decibel magazine said: "If Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked one Morbid Angel album in its “Top 40 greatest death metal albums”, with their 1989 debut Altars of Madness appearing at number 1...
and Gorguts
Gorguts
Gorguts is a technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The band's only constant member is Luc Lemay.-History:Gorguts were formed in 1989 by Luc Lemay , Sylvain Marcoux , Éric Giguère and Stephane Provencher...
had birthed a German Expressionist
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
child, that unholy creature would be Portal." The band members keep their identities obscured and instead use stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
s, The Curator (vocals), Horror Illogium (lead guitar), Aphotic Mote (rhythm guitar), Ominous Fugue (bass), and Ignis Fatuus (drums). Their costumes differ from the heavy metal fashion
Heavy metal fashion
Heavy metal fashion is the style of dress, body modification, make-up, hairstyle, and so on, taken on by fans of heavy metal, or, as they are often called, metalheads or headbangers.-Origins:...
and look like "suits and executioners' masks save for vocalist The Curator, who wears a huge, tattered wizard's hat
Pointed hat
Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Though often suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, the Japanese, the Mi'kmaq people of Atlantic Canada, and the Huastecs of Veracruz...
that obscures his face."
The idea for these costumes were developed between The Curator and Horror Illogium, inspired in the fashion of the 1920s
1920s in fashion
The 1920s is the decade in which fashion entered the modern era. It was the decade in which women first liberated themselves from constricting fashions and began to wear more comfortable clothes . Men likewise abandoned overly formal clothes and began to wear sport clothes for the first time...
, as well as the imagery
Fine art photography
Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer as artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual account for news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to...
created by actor Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
in a few of his roles from the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era, which according to Horror Illogium was the ideal figure for what the band wanted to portray. The band cites as inspiration for its lyrical themes the entities mentioned in Lovecraft Mythos, such as Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
, Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
, Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan and the Blind Idiot God.-Inspiration:...
, and Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
. The most prominently musical influences from the band's formative years were Morbid Angel, Beherit
Beherit (band)
Beherit is a black metal band from Finland. The band was formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto , Black Jesus and Sodomatic Slaughter , with the purpose of performing "the most primitive, savage, hell-obsessed black metal imaginable." "Beherit" is the Syriac word for Satan...
, and Immolation
Immolation (band)
-History:The band formed in May 1986 by Andrew Sakowicz and Dave Wilkinson under the name Rigor Mortis . The name was changed to Immolation in April 1988, after the Warriors of Doom demo which was recorded as Rigor Mortis and Demo I which was recorded as Immolation...
. Since its foundation in 1994, Portal have "steadily built an underground
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
via its legendary concerts and consistent output throughout the 2000s," including the extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s The End Mills
The End Mills
The End Mills is the first EP release by the Australian heavy metal band Portal. The original release was limited to 150 CDs. It was later re-issued by Dissident Records in October 2006 as a 7" EP with a bonus track.-Track listing:...
(2002) and The Sweyy
The Sweyy
The Sweyy is the second EP release by the Australian technical blackened death metal band Portal. Its release was limited to 150 CDs. The live tracks on this release were taken from the Bloodlust III festival in 2003...
(2004), and the studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s Seepia
Seepia
Seepia is the first album by the Australian Technical metal and blackened death metal band. The original version of the album was limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. It was remastered and re-released through Profound Lore Records in 2005, as a digipack, and again by Ordo Decimus Peccatum in 2008...
(2003), Outre'
Outre'
Outre' is the second studio album by the Australian technical blackened death metal band Portal. A vinyl version of the album was released through Obsidian Records.-Track listing:# "Moil" – 1:35# "Abysmill" – 4:46...
(2007), and Swarth
Swarth
Swarth is the third studio album by the Australian technical blackened death metal band Portal. The album was packaged in a gatefold hard cover digi-sleeve, with a 16-page booklet.-Track listing:# "Swarth" - 4:15# "Larvae" - 4:26# "Illoomorpheme" - 3:16...
(2009). The band's releases have been criticised for their "lack of production quality, unrefined, murky sound and overly disturbing atmosphere," while it has also been stated that Portal "reach back to truly old-school ideas
Members
Current- The Curator – vocalsDeath growlA death growl, also known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, and harsh vocals among other names, is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal and black metal music genre, but also used in a variety of heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres.Death...
(1994–present) - Horror Illogium – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
(1994–present) - Aphotic Mote – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
(2003–present) - Ignis Fatuus – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2007–present) - Omenous Fugue – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2009–present)
Former
- Werm – bass (2002–2005)
- Mephitic – drums (2002–2005)
- Elsewhere – bass (2006)
- Monocular – drums (2006)
- Phathom Conspicuous – bass (2007–2008)
Source
Discography
Studio albums- SeepiaSeepiaSeepia is the first album by the Australian Technical metal and blackened death metal band. The original version of the album was limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. It was remastered and re-released through Profound Lore Records in 2005, as a digipack, and again by Ordo Decimus Peccatum in 2008...
(2003) - Outre'Outre'Outre' is the second studio album by the Australian technical blackened death metal band Portal. A vinyl version of the album was released through Obsidian Records.-Track listing:# "Moil" – 1:35# "Abysmill" – 4:46...
(2007) - SwarthSwarthSwarth is the third studio album by the Australian technical blackened death metal band Portal. The album was packaged in a gatefold hard cover digi-sleeve, with a 16-page booklet.-Track listing:# "Swarth" - 4:15# "Larvae" - 4:26# "Illoomorpheme" - 3:16...
(2009)
Extended plays
- The End MillsThe End MillsThe End Mills is the first EP release by the Australian heavy metal band Portal. The original release was limited to 150 CDs. It was later re-issued by Dissident Records in October 2006 as a 7" EP with a bonus track.-Track listing:...
(2002) - The SweyyThe SweyyThe Sweyy is the second EP release by the Australian technical blackened death metal band Portal. Its release was limited to 150 CDs. The live tracks on this release were taken from the Bloodlust III festival in 2003...
(2004)
Demo albums
- Portal (1998)
- Lurker at the Threshold (2006)