Have you ever heard a band, that seemed to be familiar, yet was not at the same time table? I have to say it is confusing as hell to find that out. When I started the whole reviewing process on a band called PORTRAIT, I was instantly put into that headspace. It was odd to say the least, but an enjoyable odd.

Hailing from the Death Metal capital of the world, Sweden, this five piece band has been playing some very melodic and straight forward Metal, yet comes across like sounding a whole lot like early MERCYFUL FATE / KING DIAMOND with some shading of the Canadian Death / Thrash Metallers SACRIFICE and the musical progressiveness of DREAM THEATER as well.  PORTRAIT does sound a whole lot like all of these bands, yet they come through near originality, something that in their case was a bit hard to accomplish. However, there is a strong base followed by pure talent that explains the whole of it all.

With ten songs to choose from, it is tough to decide which actually the best track of this showcase is as each has that sort of feel that makes the listener connect to every played note and each sung word. I think that all of these songs are strong, thus I suggest that you would listen to the whole album and then decide for yourself. The singer might not be King Diamond but still damn good nonetheless.

I could have taken this album apart I wanted to, but I am not going to.  I see the talent and strength that PORTRAIT has and just want to lose myself in the album. It is a great album that just needs to be enjoyed and that is all.  The band is classic in their approach, so that is the simplicity of it all.  Good music needs nothing else.  It might be a very close imitation to KING DIAMOND, but it is still damn good in the end.