An optimist would describe Portrayal of Guilt as experimental and ever-evolving. While that’s often true, their discography sees a constant ebb and flow of polished, realized ideas and half-baked ones, and their newest record, …Beginning of the End (Run For Cover Records), is no exception.

Portrayal of Guilt as a whole is the epitome of that classic Jeff Goldblum quote, “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” There’s no doubt they’re an incredibly talented trio led by a ridiculous, borderline-inhuman screamer, but not every song has to have death growls and a hardware store’s worth of experimental sounds. Not every song needs to try so hard to break the mold or be disruptive.

“Ecstacy” is a great example here. Had they only stuck to clean vocals, this song could’ve been an incredibly sexual, degenerative spiritual. “Object of Pain” comes closer, while mixing in a sensual dissonance, and displaying how effective using screams sparingly in this context can be, making for one of the best tracks on the record.

Songs like the aforementioned that take a step away from the anti-God rhetoric are some of the most enjoyable. Unfortunately, those are few and far between. Criticism of religion is an undeniable staple of metal, and bands are doing it in extremely compelling ways every day. However, Portrayal of Guilt’s approach leans more juvenile. Their lyricism isn’t as refined as you’d expect from a nearly decade-old band with seven records under their belt.

To that point, their attempts at the horror aesthetic can often come across equally as teenage angst edgy. “Human Terror” and “The Last Judgement” drive home this point, utilizing distortion and disruption like an indie horror game. With that said, when they do horror right, they do it right. “Under Siege” comes in swinging, evoking Hellraiser-esque imagery through a lovingly bastardized Black Metal sound.

Portrayal of Guilt has had every genre label tossed on them, with none sticking. The best way to describe them, in all honesty, is “Cenobite-core.” From the brutal for brutal’s sake approach, to the metallic resonance and hellish, God-forsaken screams, …Beginning of the End is a record straight from Pinhead’s personal collection.

If one can bring themselves to muddle through the lows of an experimental band like this, they’ll find great rewards in the highs. Their debauched and warped approaches to death, black, doom, and metalcore, with a little of that 90s nu intonation occasionally thrown in, can produce some refreshing, hard-hitting gems, such as “Death From Above” and “Chamber of Misery.”

Overall, Portrayal of Guilt is not a band looking to create world-changing Shakespearean pieces. They make songs to get sloshed and mosh to, and they’re incredible at doing so if they do accidentally stumble into something innovative along the way, all the better.

Buy the album here:
https://portrayalofguilt.com/

7 / 10
LJ DEWITT
Follow her work here: