Having been force-fed the lies of the church for a lifetime the bitterness now rises in the throat of our protagonist, a seventeenth century-set fellowe facing unjust hardship and refusing to take it lying down. Making a pact with the adversary gives way to a new-found strength, a power conjured through occult practices and forbidden commune on this sixth full-length (and first concept) album from Kristiansand, Sweden-based heavy metal quintet PORTRAIT. ‘The Host‘ is the big show, the grand theatric apex of their nigh two-decades of development, revealing the guts and the gusto of the band at their best from every possible angle. Fans of epic and traditional heavy metal of a certain caliber should instantly recognize the ambition and the over-the-top nature of this band and appreciate their potential being now even more thoroughly realized in a serious way as this horrified, sordid narrative comes to life.

if you’ve got the context, the full spread of Portrait‘s five previous records it’d be hard to argue against their work having come a very long way beyond the 70’s Priest kissed Mercyful Fate-isms of their self-titled debut (‘Portrait‘, 2008) back in the late 2000’s with original vocalist Philip Svennefelt (Helvetets Port) having gone from a deep underground revivalist heavy metal group to a Metal Blade signed crew in the span of just a few years, having turned a corner on their craft after adding Per Lengstedt (Overdrive) on vocals. At that point you could hear the convergence of all manner of speed metal in their rhythms but a theatric touch in their vocal arrangements as their brilliant sophomore LP (‘Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae‘, 2011) took clear inspiration from early King Diamond as well as groups like Satan and late 70’s Judas Priest. This was an exciting time for traditional heavy metal revivalism and their only reasonable contemporaries at the time were maybe Trial‘s debut ‘The Primordial Temple‘ and Attic‘s still developing mastery on ‘The Invocation‘ a year later. If you love this kind of stuff as much I do and caught onto their work early on you’ll likely agree there’re very few bands who add anything more than plainest imitation of vocal to the realm. At this point I’d suggest Portrait have been largely consistent in developing their own version of it over the last decade-plus and, it’d be fair to say that ‘The Host‘ is their most dramatic and thoroughly representative work to date.

Ten years ago ‘Crossroads‘ (2014) was an album without any real contemporary from my point of view as Portrait moved from the rocking step of early Mercyful Fate toward a more complete command of late 80’s King Diamond-esque development. Now, honestly, there is no way we’re going to avoid typing those band names at least four or five more times in this review but you should’ve gotten the point already… it has always been a hundred percent clear where Lengstedt‘s vocal range intentionally reaches and what sort of inspiration guides the hand(s) of co-founding guitarist/main composer Christian Lindell (+ drummer Anders Persson) who also has a bit of Manilla Road‘s dramatic yet kinetic ideation in his compositions and even throws in a bit of early power metal in his repertoire; From that point we’ve gotten two other full-lengths from the band, the darker and simplified trot of ‘Burn the World‘ (2017), which I’d reviewed back when this site first started, as well as the 2021 released ‘At One With None‘ an album I’d completely missed that year and hadn’t heard ’til the review process for ‘The Host‘ began.

What took so long? — If I could make only one general comparison between the previous record and ‘The Host‘ it’d be that Portrait‘s muse felt scatterbrained, one part thrashing the next easier-rocking in an attempt to come full range beyond the at-times sluggish ‘Burn the World‘. This new album is a conceptual undertaking, a tale of horrified possession and debauchery told through fourteen separate scenes, a structure and pretense which naturally helps flesh out the band’s intended oeuvre without losing sight of the tone of the tale being told. This seems like a long time coming considering the inspirations of the band being practically worn on-sleeve and a central narrative seems to naturally suit their efforts here, sounding particularly inspired just a few years after the comparatively lukewarm ‘At One With None‘ (per my own uninformed hindsight, of course).

Side A opener “The Blood Covenant” thankfully introduces itself with a quick whisper of horror before ‘The Host‘ goes off with a bang, a wailing and bulldozed-out display which showcases their rhythm section is yet brimming with life and Portrait haven’t left behind the more ornately composed riffcraft of their second and third record and “The Sacrament” gets right to it otherwise, reminding the listener who they are while also showcasing the purpose and rhythmic focus this whole ordeal has given them as the record pretty seamlessly jogs through its first three or so pieces. “One Last Kiss” feels like a step away from the King Diamond-esque realm inhabited thus far (“Oneiric Visions” felt like it’d been yanked from the first half of ‘Them‘) and into a mid-to-late 80’s speed-thrashing era Manilla Road feeling. That initially pensive, dramatic display eventually sprawls into epic heavy metal fanfare, a slow and deliberate march which pairs perfectly with my favorite song on the album, the semi-blackened estrangement of “Treachery” opening a path to the kinda speed-metallic push beyond (“Sound the Horn”). I am not just naming my way through the running order here but attempting to convey how well this narrative moves, how well they’ve managed to control the flow of these ideas to the point that ‘The Host‘ hits its prime-era traditional heavy metal mark and avoids being bogged down by its grandiose treatment of concept. It certainly doesn’t feel like we’ve just chopped through roughly half of this 75 minute record by the time we’re there.

In fact we’re not quite there yet but nearing the end of the nine song ride of the first disc as Portrait come full circle rounding back into “Dweller of the Threshold”, a direct return to that early King Diamond-esque affect, particularly via the harmonized vocals, and this time around they’re blazing through a few more leads, trading off and indulging a bit more, suitably so as they retain an over the top reference for their sound. Passage from Side B to the second LP is less steady for my own taste as “Voice of the Outsider” feels like a swift tonal change, a heavy lean back into the late 80’s/early 90’s power metal spectrum applied depending on the song (see: “Die in My Heart” versus “From the Urn“). This change is no less traditional in their spirited approach but songs like “Void of the Outsider” and closer “The Passions of Sophia” tap into what I see as the more singular side of Portrait‘s gig as their approach to ‘epic’ heavy metal has more of a distinctly Swedish knack for dramatic effect. I particularly like the riff that hits around ~7:51 minutes into the closer as it feels like a spirited quick change that generates instant momentum for the final push. Granted it is an eleven and a half minute song which closes a full 75 minute record so, if you’re hitting this song (at all, really) at the end you probably have powerful enough fortitude to weather the greater experience. While I don’t think I could make a case for the second LP as a standalone experience it acts as an important extension of the band’s sound and does well to incorporate variety (see: the blackened power-swatted drums of “Sword of Reason”) to a greater degree than the first disc.

Though there are some samey moments and a few (appropriately) drawn out pieces on its second half ‘The Host‘ should win over those inclined quickly for the authentic 80’s heavy metal spiritus imbued and the macabre story which unfolds within its duration. Portrait‘ve put so much consideration into the flow of the experience the story practically tells itself, granted you’ve got the lyric sheet in hand and a solid attention span. As a fan of the band since 2011 or so I couldn’t help but admire the persistence of their vision while also continuing to question, well, what’d taken them so long to put together a concept album? Now that they have given the idea the full treatment it naturally turns out a brilliant result, allowing the latent potential of the quintet to ripen and expand within this format and… potentially reaching the point of personae where we can more resolutely identify the Portrait sound in its own right. A high recommendation.

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