Portal
Demo

THE REVIEW

The first album by Portal called "Demo", is a good album, a little cold to be honest, but still good. The track list, composed of 10 songs, experiences moments that are truly positive and others that are horrible due to a strong lack of musical feeling in more than one instance.

The album opens with "Endless Endeavors", a rather unappealing track, based on heavy guitar riffs, with a truly remarkable rhythmic contribution, but that never reaches a sufficient level due to a fairly dull melody; the vocal intertwinings, well-calibrated to tell the truth, show us how much stylistic/technical difference there is between the two vocalists, in fact if the male voice turns out to be unappealing, the female one, very similar to the singer of Aghora, is quite pleasing to listen to. The second track "Karma's Plight", does not stray too far from the gothic/prog shores of the previous song, presenting itself as a boring track, where the coldest display of technique takes over emotions. Once again, the male vocalist ruins the good vocal lines traced throughout the first part of the song by the female voice. The pair "Circle" and "Costumed In Grace", turns out to be the best of the album: the former presents itself with a well-structured melodic arrangement, where a very refined drum, accompanied by a great bass, sets a calm and relaxed tempo; the guitar riffs are splendid and the voices excellent. "Costumed In Grace", on the other hand, emerges as a song at the edge between jazz and metal; the vocalist does a truly commendable job, being accompanied by a truly unique musical base in terms of beauty; once again the singer (really ungraceful) goes on to tarnish the vocal part, without however compromising the final result. "Cosmos", the 5th track, divides itself between strongly metal parts and calmer ones: the Cynic's death influence is felt more in this track especially in the various riffs. The lines of the sizzling bass in the background are splendid.

Dreamy piano notes open the sixth song of the album "Crawl", a decidedly light song, a bit out of context to be honest, but still more than good, with excellent melodies, both vocal and musical. The voices of the two singers are fantastic and carefree, reminiscent of some voices close to a very refined pop. "Mirror Child" falls into anonymity, finding itself between the beautiful and heavy "Crawl" and the very interesting "Road To You", a song that after a carefree intro, becomes harsher and rich in tempo changes. The proximity to many solutions explored by Malone in Aghora is impressive, yet a good originality is maintained. Excellent guitar work and the band in general. The same goes for "Mirror Child", which can be applied to "Belong", a rather unnecessary song, which has the misfortune of being right before the beautiful "Not The Same", most likely the most progressive track of the album: rich in countertimes and various technicalities, the track flows very pleasantly.

In summary, despite some flaws (some decidedly heavy ones), the album isn't bad at all, certainly not a masterpiece, but a good effort by a young band, composed of excellent members (except for the male voice); the production is good, the songwriting decent. A highlight of the album is the presence of the great Sean Reinert (I hope he needs no further introduction) on drums, adding a considerable dose of refinement.