Never ones to stick to the tried-and-true formula, Portrayal of Guilt continue exploring new territory with rewarding results on album #5.
Release date: April 24, 2026 | Run For Cover Records | Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp
The best-known powerviolence bands of the 1990s – Orchid, Majority Rule, etc. – never pulled punches and always went straight for the throat. Their songs ranged from under a minute to several, but they brought the carnage 100% of the time. I dare any self-professed fan of screamo to keep their composure when pageninetynine‘s “Life In a Box” comes on and tramples everything in its wake. So when Austin, Texas’ fledgling group Portrayal of Guilt dropped their impressive debut album Let Pain Be Your Guide in 2018, it was clear they were connoisseurs of this classic sound, playing with its savagery and unpredictability to satisfying results.
However, this proved not to be the sole trick up the band’s sleeve, as they’ve endeavored to experiment with every new offering since 2021’s We Were Always Alone took the debut’s sound to its properly frenzied conclusion: the same year’s Christfucker indulged happily in mid-tempo doom and sludge metal aesthetics, while 2023’s Devil Music extrapolated by incorporating more groovy odd time signatures into the mix. With such a restless streak coloring Portrayal of Guilt‘s output and the end product showcasing a different side of their sonic pallet each time, what was next for the band? Would they continue toying with their existing sound, or play it safe and go back to basics?
Fortunately, Portrayal of Guilt have thrown another rewarding curveball with …Beginning of the End. Opening track “Backstabber” could almost pass for a recent Fleshwater instrumental: shimmering but sinister, setting the tone with a beat that combines both the metallic clang of industrial and the urgent pulse of trip-hop. After a minute, “Human Terror” begins the album proper with disgusting (positive) distorted bass from Alex Stanfield before guitarist/vocalist Matt King layers dissonant guitar and truly animalistic shrieking on top. Drummer James Beveridge wisely takes a backseat, providing the loping rhythm all it needs to connect with the listener. Each chorus hits like a wrecking ball, then the smoke clears and it comes swinging back around. It’s a bleak, desolate sound that Portrayal of Guilt have been working toward – judging by this opening one-two punch, it’s clear they’ve found a unique place in extreme music.
“Heaven’s Gate” provides a headlong crashing-together of grindcore and discordant sludge, while “Under Siege” lives up to its name with its hardcore punk D-beat and barked vocals getting that adrenaline up in no time at all – a half-time breakdown carries the song into its devastating final moments and puzzling ending, leaving the listener bewildered and whiplashed. But it’s “Ecstasy” that is easily the most peculiar track on …Beginning of the End: it opens like something out of Korn‘s ’90s playbook, chugs along its little nu-metal chug, and breaks into a loud, clean chorus. Besides nu-metal, it brings to mind that era’s grunge blueprint with [soft verse + loud chorus = DYNAMICS]. The softly moaned vocals from King invite obvious Deftones comparisons, but at this point any underground-mainstream minglers will likely be pulling influence from a band as ubiquitous as Chino and co. The lyrics, more intelligible even when slathered in reverb, tell a story of (you guessed it) guilt and desperation: ‘Sentenced to life/I beg for death/Taste this sacred ash and you will be free‘. As a call for self-extinguishment, you’re unlikely to find one as bouncy and, dare I say, hip-swinging as this one.
The quiet horror of modern life is very much crucial to Portrayal of Guilt‘s vision. “God Will Never Hear Me” and “Object of Pain” squeeze their respective ideas for every drop of dreary, grey hopelessness, the latter featuring the stanza ‘When did you realize the wounds on your hands/Were from another victim of your sadism?/I’m tired of feeling numb/Your slave of lust, cold and inhuman‘. Stuck in our loops of life, PoG say, we’re casualties of our casual disconnection, not noticing or caring when we hurt or exploit others for our own gain. Not the rosiest sentiment, but one that feels entirely prescient to certain world leaders of today.
The closing “The Last Judgment” pulls out all the stops, with King’s vocals – already consistently high-quality – being a particular standout. They build to moments of abject terror when multi-tracked as they are throughout this song, pushing the abstract metropolitan hellscape seen on the front cover straight down into Hell itself. Sampled breakbeats even make an appearance here, showcasing Portrayal of Guilt‘s never-ending desire to try new things in a fresh context. It continues nearly a decade of world-building from the band, who remain committed to finding a shadowy corner between screamo, hardcore punk, and extreme metal all to themselves.
With …Beginning of the End, they very nearly achieve that sought-after consistency – the only real dud on the album is the minute-long “Chamber of Misery Pt. IV”, which features rapper Slim Guerilla delivering tame bars in a dated cadence that feels very out of place with the rest of the tracklist, both musically and tonally. Again, PoG‘s willingness to experiment is the best thing about them; this particular song idea just could’ve used some hammering out. Otherwise, the album stands as another very creative and enjoyable work from a band that will no doubt go on to throw their fanbase more curveballs throughout their career. If this is really the beginning of the end, here’s hoping that what awaits on the other side is even better.
