Review Summary: Vex-avoid.
Portal's fourth offering
Vexovoid comes four years after the release of Swarth, a solid record but essentially a glib mess of putty that signalled the deterioration of a sound Portal mandated with the blunt force of
Outre. The drag of their abhorrent black/death metal is pulling at their creative strings, and while bands like
Archgoat blatantly revel in being one-dimensional and still pull it off, Portal on
Vexovoid sounds like a non-threatening imitation of themselves circa-2007.
There are times on this record where the almost clean murkiness sounds like Satan disco tunes, the lack of creativity masked by blistering tempos and the disgustingly overdone guitar rumble which by now is a fad at best. Many have criticised Portal's music for its lack of any defining moments;
Vexovoid is most certainly the worst offender among Portal's records, a shambolic display of incoherence which blends seven songs into just over thirty minutes of completely forgettable murk.
Portal's music has suffocated itself to the point of repetition and it is unfortunate that the band seems to think it's enough to just pretend like they're making dark music rather than really doing it. A section about two minutes into 'Plasm', which made me think a lot about
Outre, is one of several fleeting examples where Portal's stumbling feet find some solid ground and an inhuman atmosphere takes over for the rest of the track - up next 'Awryeon' wastes no time reminding you that in fact this is not
Outre, but you're listening to
Vexovoid in all of its baseless glory.
That is ultimately the true feeling of
Vexovoid. It is shallow, unmemorable, and does nothing to contribute or widen Portal's repertoire, except for reinforcing a belief that this wreck of animalistic destruction, which once was a truly awe-inspiring thing to hear on record, is most likely going to be continually dragged out until its thinning webs slip from your subconscious, the curator's pull weakens, and the portal to the other side closes.
