Portrait - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae [2011]

Portrait is the latest retro craze in ballsy, old school metal, and their new (ridiculously titled) album Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae is a great showing as to why. What one realizes is that even the name is part of Portrait's retro persona; this is 80's power metal in its truest and most pretentious form (okay, so it falls short of Manowar in that regard). What I did not expect, however, is that the album doesn't flat out sound like a straight Mercyful Fate/King Diamond impersonation. Sure, the vocalist often sounds like a King dead ringer, and the band is quite liberal with using the Fate's distinctive riffs and leads, but there are enough little elements of classic US power metal, traditional (ala Iron Maiden or Jag Panzer), and progressive music to have the release feeling both fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

Since the band lost its first vocalist after the debut, they've found a suitably similar replacement in Per Karlsson. If any were worried that a change in pipes would be indicative of a decrease in quality, they really shouldn't; to my ears, at least, he's the superior singer. Not every falsetto and evil spoken part is perfectly on, but the guy gives it his all, and the outstanding choruses show it. The guitarists find a comfort zone using a somewhat involved string of rhythms and leads. I wouldn't call it a wall of sound per se, but there isn't a whole lot of space in there, either; but that's okay: the result is a near perfect emulation of 80's metal production. When you see the somewhat long song lengths, the first question you probably have is, are the songs memorable? The answer is a rousing "hell yes." It's almost surprising how swift the tracks seem to end considering this factor. An eight minute thumper like "Darkness Forever" will come and go without losing your interest. The refrains are apt to be trapped in your mind; just listen to mega-catchy numbers like "Beast of Fire" and "Bloodbath."

Of all the tracks here (just eight in 54 minutes), only "Infinite Descension," "The Nightcomers" and the atmospheric instrumental "The Wilderness Beyond" (see "To One Far Away") seem to be torn directly from the Mercyful Fate playbook. The rest aren't breaking new ground or presenting new ideas, but what Portrait does works. No need to be too critical about originality when that isn't the point of the band in the first place. Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae is never quite as glorious as Ghost's Opus Eponymous, but that's a different beast entirely. If you like the edgier side of retro Swedish things, such as In Solitude, then you shouldn't hesitate to check this album out.
  
   Overall: 8.25/10 (Great)