For some black metal albums you can almost do a checklist and see if you will know how it sounds instantly. Abusing the snare drum over an entire song? Check. A single tremolo riff with a few slight variations? Check. Double kick that goes on way too long and loses its effect? Check. High concept about something grim that does not come across in the least in the music? Check. A guitar tone that cuts your ears and leaves little room for the bass? Check. You get the idea, and many of you have already heard what Aodon does on Portraits many times before, probably this year. I am sad to say that this album, that has a concept about making songs about characters and using their names as the title, fails to make much of an impression even after I have listened to it 6+ times.
It is not all bad, of course. While the first half of the album has tracks that vary their pace very little and merge into one another, the latter half of the album at least tries to inject a little variety. This comes in forms of small breaks to calm before hitting with the same bag of tricks again, using volume as contrast without any finesse to it. But most of the songs have a backing guitar that at times have a kind of theatrical silent movie soundtrack vibe to them. Some riffs also take on a post metal feel to them in how the lead guitar ups the tension. The best two songs here, “Andreas” and “Inaki”, let the bass breathe and varies the pace with the drums while actually developing their main riffs into something that is worth listening to. But it is too little to late and try as I might, I find very little of this material memorable. It is possible that black metal fans will find something of value here, like death metal fans enjoy the monthly “meat and potatoes” albums that serve as appetizers before the great albums. But most likely Portraits will fade from memory before long, as it already has just as I am finishing up my seventh spin.
