Review Summary: So ugly and dark, yet you can't help but be mesmerized.
We Are Always Alone may only be 26 minutes long, but it’s a truly visceral and crushing 26 minutes. Portrayal of Guilt’s unique blend of black metal and hardcore takes them to many interesting places, as despair and aggression are exuded in equal measure. The music itself will beat you to a bloody pulp, only for you to read the lyrics and ruminate on some truly disturbing and depressing themes on display. Whether it’s the proclamations of God being nonexistent on “It’s Already Over,” finding solitude in your own grave on “A Tempting Pain,” or feeling hopelessly numb on “Anesthetized,” the record isn’t exactly a lighthearted listen. But in a sense, it’s almost like a twisted way of cushioning the listener from all the harsh, jagged riffs and ugly sonics of the album’s music. Opener “The Second Coming” immediately sets the tone; a minute-and-a-half’s worth of metallic hardcore as the shrieks and messy drums coalesce into something both horrifying and mesmerizing. But, as if to consciously avoid being completely static, there’s plenty of tempo and dynamic changes on display as well. In fact, the last section of the song is entirely occupied by foreboding ambient effects to signal the slower, doomier approach of the second track “Anesthetized.” Many of the album’s more atmospheric moments are integrated into the longer songs such as “It’s Already Over” and “Masochistic Oath,” in which the band’s trademark aggression is effectively fused with the eerier clean guitars and their dissonant leads. Admittedly this approach does get a bit repetitive after a while, but the short runtime means there’s not much to worry about.
The band’s ability to combine intensity and despair is what makes them so special. Much like the Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou records that just came out recently, the power of Portrayal of Guilt’s music is that they can crush you while letting you reflect on some dark, heavy subjects. The production does wonders here as well, as the aggression almost gets softened by the wall of sound used on the tremolo-picked guitar leads; it all comes together to create an unusual texture. It almost sounds like a cleaned-up version of Ulver’s
Nattens Madrigal at times with how hypnotic the black metal portions are, such as the opening of the relentless “They Want Us All to Suffer” and of course the faster moments of that intense opener. I’d certainly like to hear more bands like Portrayal of Guilt and Oathbreaker in the future; bands who can combine hardcore, screamo, and black metal elements to such an effective degree. If we can keep getting albums that maintain the quality of
We Are Always Alone, I can only imagine future possibilities of the way these genres are melded together.
