Australia’s Portal is one of modern extreme music’s true hidden gems. After reading a lot of press about their newest release, Outré, and out of sheer curiosity as well as interest in their mystique I ordered the release. Upon first listen I was taken by surprise. Portal’s music is tumult, aural chaos in its purest and truest form. I admit, it took about 2 or 3 weeks of listening to Outré before I unearthed its true potential.

Portal sounds like a mix between Morbid Angel, Gorguts and Xasthur on barbiturates; with no considerations for puny things like melody they create a hurricane of blackened evil noise. I see Outré as the musical equivalent of H.P. Lovecraft’s masterpiece Call of Cthulhu, it is brooding, dark and unrelenting but at the same time mysterious and pensive. The first three tracks, “Moil”, “Abysmil” and “Heirships”, work to render an atmosphere of unbridled cosmic malevolence. The album truly picks up its feet with “Omnipotent Crawling Chaos” (even the name of the song reeks of Lovecraftian evil) which sounds like a compilation of Coventant’s more dissonant moments layered with sheet after sheet of crackling scorching reverb. “Black Houses”, the following track stays in a similar vein with enough timing changes that even a jazz aficionado would find himself with more “what the fuck?” moments than he could count on one hand. The title track, like “Moil” creates terrifying soundscapes invoking the ancient terrors of times passed. “13 Globes” is Outré’s true apex, although more traditionally “death metal” than anything else on the album; it is brutal in the most evocative sense. “Sourlows” fades from the brutality of “13 Globes” into the terrifically terrifying atmosphere concocted in “Moil” and the title track, a fitting end to say the least.

Be warned that Portal is not for the faint of heart; Outré takes true dedication and patience to understand and appreciate for what it really is. Though these ozzy chaosmongera have been accused of creating ridiculous nonsensical noise, those who reduce Portal to “noise” are those with no appreciation for uniqueness. The bottom line is, if you are tired with the increasingly unoriginal and saturated metal scene Portal may be your saving (dis)grace (although they are more definitely not for everyone). If you have a chance to listen to Outré, and you will either be disgusted or amazed, most likely a combination of the two.