The world always needs a little more heavy, discordant, knowingly ugly freak music, so it’s a good thing that the ultra-intense Austin weirdos Portrayal Of Guilt are ready to drop a new LP on us. POG’s last album was the deranged conceptual 2023 work Devil Music — one side of regular Portrayal Of Guilt tracks, one side of orchestral reworkings of those songs. This spring, the band will follow that one with a new LP called …Beginning Of The End.
Along with the album announcement, Portrayal Of Guilt have shared a couple of tracks from the new LP, and they work as signs that we should once again have no idea what to expect from this band. “Ecstasy” combines the band’s harsh vocals and scraping metallic guitars with a loping trip-hop breakbeat that somehow makes the whole package even more seasick and off-kilter than usual. That song’s Craig Murray-directed video gets into surreal body-horror territory, so be warned.
“Human Terror,” the other new POG track, finds the band dipping into nü metal territory, which fits them better than you might expect. The churning bassline and deep groove conjure images of five guys in matching tracksuits all headbanging at the same time. Both songs are big departures for this band, and I am into both of them.
Along with the album announcement, Portrayal Of Guilt have also unveiled plans for a big North American tour with fellow Austin freaks Street Sects. At various points in the trek, they’ll also be joined by Taraneh, Halloween, the Infinity Ring, and reunited screamo OGs pageninetynine. Below, check out “Ecstasy,” “Human Terror,” the …Beginning Of The End tracklist, and those tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Backstabber”
02 “Human Terror”
03 “Heaven’s Gate”
04 “Under Siege”
05 “Ecstasy”
06 “Death From Above”
07 “God Will Never Hear Me”
08 “Chamber Of Misery Pt. IV” (feat. Slim Guerilla)”
09 “Total Black”
10 “Object of Pain”
11 “The Last Judgement”
TOUR DATES:
4/17 – Tilburg, NL @ Roadburn Festival
5/09 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk *~
5/12 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberia *
5/14 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall, 1884 Lounge *
5/15 – Birmingham, AL @ TrimTab Brewing *
5/16 – Chattanooga, TN @ The Boneyard *
5/17 – Louisville, KY @ Portal *
5/19 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway *
5/20 – Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade *
5/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Zhora Darling ^
5/22 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle ^
5/24 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing ^
5/26 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s ^
5/27 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme ^
5/28 – Detroit, MI @ Lager House ^
5/29 – Hamilton, ON @ Bridgeworks ^
5/30 – Toronto, ON @ Prepare the Ground – The Cave
5/31 – Montreal, QC @ Sotterenea ^
6/01 – Medford, MA @ Deep Cuts +
6/02 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge (In the Round) +
6/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s +
6/04 – Washington, DC @ DC9 +
6/05 – Durham, NC @ Stanczyks +
6/06 – Savannah, GA @ Dog Days Fest
6/07 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl +
~ with pageninetynine
* with Street Sects & Taraneh
^ with Street Sects & Halloween
+ with Street Sects & the Infinity Ring
…Beginning Of The End is out 4/24 on Run For Cover.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
