Portread’ is an Estonian symphonic metal band which has been created in 2013 and which releases its first studio album ‘Decayeon’. The least we can say is that they do not make the buzz on the internet while their first opus already shows a good maturity and they offer us beautiful varied melodies with a good sharing between energetic titles and others calmer which is not often the case for formations of this style which generally promote energy and power.
The first part of the album presents catchy and powerful titles like 'Welcome to the Human Race' which sets the scene with a powerful mid-tempo and an effective first melody, then, 'God of Robots' takes us in a catchy title in the style of 'Delain' (see here et new album released dew days ago here)) and 'Dark Net Amy' is a new melodic jewel with a refrain which immediately enters the head. Follows 'The Age of Decay' which continues on this path with melodic lines assimilable from the first listen and which give an irresistible desire to move in rhythm and even if 'Mortality' begins like a ballad in the first minute, the tempo then accelerates to offer us a new catchy refrain and a second part of the title coming out of the main theme bringing a touch of progressive. Change of scenery with 'Symbols of Man' which is a magnificent mid-tempo much calmer with a beautiful melody in which 'Anne Arrak' shows all her vocal talent, then 'Born in Secrecy' returns to a catchy and effective symphonic metal like are the first tracks of the album. With 'The End', we begin the last part of the album, much more posed, with a magnificent ballad which is, without question, to add to the best ballads of metal, then the short acoustic 'Not the Time to Die' continues in this calm and serene atmosphere and, 'Saint of Sorrow' is a melodic mid-tempo which accelerates the rhythm on the second part of the title, and finally, 'As the Life Fades' ends the album on a simple but very effective power ballad with a last beautiful vocal demonstration of 'Anne Arrak'.
In summary, Estonia is not necessarily the country that comes to mind when we talk about symphonic metal but we must admit that 'Portread' is a formation that has all the assets to succeed in being know and 'Decayeon' is an album filled with beautiful surprises which alternate energy and serenity in a beautiful way which should appeal to an audience who likes a melodic symphonic metal and formations like 'Xandria', 'Delain', 'Tarja', or 'The Dark Element' for to name only a few of the most notorious... | |
