Swedish dark metallers Portrait, masters of the Mercyful Fate lick, with a total command of King Diamond’s 80s metal tricks, have announced ‘The Host’, their first ever concept album, set for release on June 21st via Metal Blade.
Founding guitarist Christian Lindell describes the new offering, their first since 2021’s acclaimed ‘At One With None’, as “an occult tale of sword and sorcery, accompanied by some of the most passionate heavy metal ever recorded. The story takes place in seventeenth century Sweden and revolves around an unnamed protagonist who, because of his experiences with the injustice and hypocrisy of this world, decides to seek truth and strength through its ‘Adversary.’”
Although partly inspired by historic events, the story should not be mistaken for a history lesson. “No, definitely not. There do exist court documents from that era in which people who were forced to join the army stood accused of having made pacts with the Devil, asking for luck, strength in battle and so on. That is what inspired us to place the story in that particular setting. I just caught that ball — or Baal — and ran away with it. That being said, it is no fantasy tale either, and the ‘sword and sorcery’ part will be understood by everyone reading the lyrics.”
On the musical side, the band’s co-founding drummer Anders Persson adds that the album “is a versatile entity, showing all sides of what has become our own style of heavy metal, identity, and sense of melody, yet with some new areas explored in several directions. There are songs that are our fastest and most ‘extreme’ so far along with songs of an almost semi ballad feeling. It blends perfectly together musically and fits the dramaturgy of the story. There are songs that will make you cry and songs that will make you shit your pants.”
As a precursor to the record’s release, today the band unsheathes their first single, ‘The Blood Covenant’. It is on this track that the soldier at midnight on Midsummer’s eve enters a pact with the Devil, asking for strength in battle and future abundance in exchange for the sacrament, which is to be stolen from church.
Elaborates Lindell, “This is the opening track of the album, in which the story’s main character enters an unbreakable pact and sets foot upon a path of no return. Musically, this is one of the fastest songs on the album and a straight-forward true PORTRAIT banger.”
‘The Host’, the first album to feature guitarist Karl Gustafsson as part of the band’s lineup, was recorded in JFK Studio in Sweden. Mixing and production tasks were handled by singer Per Lengstedt at his own Perilous Productions Studio. The record will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
Multicolored Splatter – Ltd. 200
White Black Marbled – Ltd. 300
180-gram Black
Burgundy Red Marbled
Find pre-orders at
www.metalblade.com/portrait
PHOTO BY: Stefan Johansson
Watch the video for ‘The Blood Covenant’ right here!