Review by Lawrence Stillman on October 9, 2024.

I definitely wasn't expecting this album to be this hard-hitting after randomly stumbling upon it on some YouTube recommendations, but it does remind me a lot of early Arsis, which is something I really love and might review if my schedule permits me.

Death Portrait is quite the newcomer to the melodic/technical death metal scene, releasing their first album in 2021. While it is quite enjoyable, the follow-up is quite an improvement from the debut. It now features better and more technical riffing than the debut, along with longer songs, which gave even more time for the songwriting to show its true colors (in a good way), with the song lengths varying from 4.5 minutes to just under 6 minutes.

The album is clearly an Arsis worship album, specifically from the "A Diamond Of Disease/A Celebration Of Guilt" era of Arsis. As such, you can expect copious amounts of blast beats and double bass, along with technical death metal hallmarks like the sudden, machine-like start-stop and the ever-changing song structures like the calmer and groovier sections that are strewn here and there throughout the album and serve as a contrast to the faster, blast-heavy sections. There are also a lot of solos here that randomly show up and leave without any prompt or warning, not that it's a bad thing; it definitely does increase the unpredictability of the album and keeps the listener on his toes, and the band (more like a solo project with guests) still manages to make it all sound very well done; every note and measure works well with the one before and after it.

The production here is quite well done too; while the guitars are quite forward in the mix, it is forward enough that it sounds high enough to let the bass take care of the lower end of the sound spectrum. But the drums do sound quite inconsistent from song to song, and I am aware that the guest spots for drums changed a lot throughout the album's production, but it is jarring enough that it can damage the experience for some people, but I do appreciate the effort of getting real drummers instead of using programmed ones. The keyboards are just there, adding a little bit of atmosphere but not enough to make their presence memorable (besides 'Posthumously' and 'Blood Orgy' with the proggy keyboard melodies). A special mention goes to the tenor vocals in 'Ascension (Shovel Your Grave)'. It was quite surprising to hear them alongside death growls.

This album is definitely a hidden gem for me, being mostly unknown while still managing to be one of the better albums within the genre. I'm definitely looking forward to the project's next album.

Highlights: 'Posthumously', 'Ascension (Shovel Your Grave)', 'Blood Orgy', 'Goosebumps'

Rating: 9.3 out of 10