AM “hump day” listening brought me to a new e-mail sitting in my inbox from a dear friend of mine named Mike Perez. My anticipation was finally finding validation, because in that e-mail was a link to the mastered stream of his band’s debut demo. That trio is named Portals from Orlando Florida, not to be confused with the clock fronted Australian death metal outfit Portal. I remember Mike mentioning that this artwork was created by one of his young children, despite my initial reaction that it resembled an extremely zoomed in segment of a Van Gogh painting. Young talent right there.

Portals does a lot of things that your typical post-hardcore/metal/whatever band should do, but neglects in the favor of remaining married to no less than 2-3 separate riffs per song spread out as 8+ minute journeys. More gauchely known as a “Neurisis copycat”. Some bands are deserving of that label given that Isis alone inspired a large amount of people myself included, but I feel several others also unintentionally become ensnared within that invalidating net. However, Portals, much like most of the new music I’ve been bumping into lately, delivers a plentiful portion of piercingly loud arrangements and refrains rather than bottom-up evolutions.

Portals introduces the demo with a short period of nail tearing silence at the onset of the first track entitled “The Understudies Reprise”. The first sound elicited immediately sets the tense mood with a series of fuzzy chords, maddened vocals and a gradually punishing pacing. Think hulking riffs similar to Eyehategod rather than Mosquito Control. These dudes don’t skimp on the sludgy tones despite the records other more dynamic, and arguably atmospheric, moments. The conclusion to the first track does give off a standard post-rock vibe, but successfully escorts the listener through familiar textures before detonating back into the sludge infested refrain from earlier.

The second track, titled “Our Glasses”, conducts another engaging introduction through walls of delay drenched individuated notes and declarative, yet distantly mixed, pockets of simple structuring percussion. The song’s a short stint built on it’s confidence to refrain before a final climactic half time segment that’s a variation to the initial refrain. I can’t help but point out the evidence for the proclaimed influence of Envy in this track. You’ll see what I mean when you listen.

A bass solo introduces a third untitled track. Here comes the fuzz! Running alongside the bass solo introduces a flurry of percussive fills and infectious bellows.  This song feels more hardcore influenced given it’s shorter length of just over three minutes, and given that shorter window the song serves as an independent build up into a turbulent half time conclusion: an expedited amalgamation of sludge and hardcore.

My biggest criticism is that the vocals are appropriate where I feel I could’ve been suffocated a lot more. Maybe it’s just me, but the vocal mixing and scattered verses don’t really elicit the vocal terrors that singer/guitarist Mike Andrews potentially possesses.

By this point preceding the final track I acknowledge that Portals have already successfully presented three tracks all organized differently from the last. See this is what I was mentioning before, to avoid contrived categorizations a band must acquaint the listener in a audibly courting fashion. By that I mean your first audible moments can’t exemplify blatant idolatry with every single song writing device. Portals successfully provides meticulously timed reiterations that emphasize the importance of time changes, chord progressions, conclusions and textural adjustments that occur naturally through the composition.

Click here to stream/download the 2011 demo from Portals on their Bandcamp.

Click here to check out Portals on Facebook.

- Jared Oates Haggard