LIVE REVIEW: PORTAL, KRALLICE

by theseseans (NYC)

Portal
When: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Where: The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn
With: Krallice, Bloody Panda, Gorguts

Bloody Panda opened Adam Shore's latest Blackened Music installment and curiously, they did so without their usual executioner's masks. Bloody Panda were an excellent choice to open this show: Portal may have been coming up, but Bloody Panda got the audience uncomfortable and slightly confused right from the beginning. Their slow doom was helped this evening by Krallice bassist Nick McMaster, who filled in for this tour. Krallice were up next, leaving drummer Lev Weinstein and McMaster onstage for their double duty of the night. As expected, Krallice's black metal meanderings were delivered perfectly. I was surprised and pleased to see the enthusiastic crowd air drumming and air guitaring along with an obvious knowledge and dedication to Krallice's material.

When Portal took the stage, they immediately intimidated. Sure they were all dressed in black with executioner masks on, but what really gave them their presence was the height of everyone in the band. They truly towered over the crowd. I will say that I'm not a huge fan of their 2009 record Swarth. I can appreciate what they do and the sound they achieve, but it just isn't something I'm going to sit down and actually listen to very often. Seeing them live however, was a very rewarding experience. Contrary to whatever Profound Lore is Twittering about, I didn't find Portal to be all that terrifying. Captivating, perhaps, but certainly not nightmarish. While their live sound matches the purposeful muddiness of their records, actually seeing them play was enthralling. While vocalist The Curator may get a lot of attention for his over-the-top attire, it was guitarist Horror Illogium that I couldn't peel my eyes from. Seeing abstract compositions come to life from his fingers delighted the musician in me. Seeing hands and fingers fly more than impressed the guitarist in me. The Curator, on the other hand, kept his stage presence minimal, focusing his movements to several summoning movements with his arms and head. Portal's performance was glitch free and while it may have seemed like chaos, the band could all stop at a moment's notice. Seeing this kind of dedication to music so abstract is a rare thing to see in the world of heavy metal.

I had to leave this show early and unfortunately missed Gorguts, which is why there is no coverage for them. The band recently reunited and will continue to play live and record new material (hopefully) later this year, a few tracks of which were reportedly played at this show.