Description
Blue vinyl with deluxe artprint. Limited 400 copies
Swedish traditional heavy metal band Portrait is back with their third overall and second for Metal Blade, titled Crossroads. Portraits previous album (2011s Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae) was a big breakthrough for the band, besides being one of the best examples of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate worship done right in recent years. With Crossroads, they continue with that approach. Now that you know what youre going to get here namely King Diamond worship and lots of it its just a matter of how good the Portrait guys are at it. Fortunately, they play this kind of music very well. Between the blistering twin lead guitar assault of Christian Lindell and David Olofsson and Per Lengstedts piercing vocal delivery, they definitely channel that classic Andy LaRoque/Michael Denner on Abigail sound. So much so that when you factor in the production and even the band photo you may find yourself double checking to see if maybe Crossroads was a long lost 1987 release. Beyond the basics of high speed heavy metal with high-pitched vocals, Portrait also nails the atmospheric horror vibe in their lyrics and the overall tone of the album. Crossroads doesnt appear to be a concept album, but it does maintain a unifying atmosphere throughout the albums eight tracks. Highlights include We Were Not Alone, Ageless Rites and the epic closing song Lily, which really shows the full range of Portraits musicianship and songwriting skills. The whole album is strong though, and at just under 43 minutes never really has time to drag, and aside from the instrumental opener is essentially filler-free. Assuming you dont mind the obvious King Diamond/Mercyful Fate worship and again, Portrait does it extremely well Crossroads is unlikely to disappoint many fans of darker traditional metal. If you enjoyed Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae, you will enjoy Crossroads as well. Fans of Attic, In Solitude, Satans Host and Ghost especially should grab a copy of this one.
Track listing:
1. Liberation
2. At the Ghost Gate
3. We Were Not Alone
4. In Time
5. Black Easter
6. Ageless Rites
7. Our Roads Must Never Cross
8. Lily