Portent - Dismal Deities EP (2013)

Band: Portent
Country: London, UK
Style: Black/Doom Metal
Label: Independent

Portent is a little band who I had never heard of before I was emailed about this EP a month or so back. I wasn't particularly interested until I saw the logo which I thought was sort of interesting (not original, but interesting). Plus it was short, what did I have to lose.
Sonically I was sort of expecting more of a death/doom sound, it was categorized as the above genre "black/doom metal" which works as well I guess. I mean it's certainly doomy, but the black and death metal elements are both in there, so categories be damned. This is, more or less, in the same vein as many of those other "cavecore" bands who were doing the Incantation worship a year or two back. It's a sound I'm perfectly fine with, some bands do it better than others, and I have to say, Portent is actually rather well adept in the sound they showcase on here. Their sound definitely has that more reverb-drenched tone that the cavecore bands have, but this is obviously a lot more doomy, which gives it a bit more of an early 90s core of vibe. At times it sort of reminded me of early Katatonia. The riffs are interesting and the vocals have a nice primal quality to them (primal roaring if you will) which both appealed to me. Honestly, this isn't the sort of release that's going to start a new trend in death/black/doom metal but I don't think it's trying to. What this is is just a solid little release.
This was a pleasant little four track EP. It's very apparent that the band in question are very adept in the styles they're playing with on here because this is one of the better fusions of these styles I've heard this year. Definitely worthy of your attention if you're a fan of the extreme metal genre.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Woven, Paranoiac Invocation