Perennial Isolation - Portraits (2021)^{Release ID: 41978}

With the album artwork on their fourth release being every bit as descriptive as the band’s name itself, it is not unexpected to find that Perennial Isolation’s music is steeped in atmospheric black metal. Just about the only surprising element to PI is that they are not from the icy wastelands of Scandinavia at all. The four members are in fact Spanish, yet they possess none of the warm continental temperatures associated with that country in their sound thankfully. Portraits is as chilly as atmospheric bm gets yet the sound also has a distinctly modern edge to it also.

The tracks themselves are very melodic and accessible numbers that are driven by solid riffs and crisp, soaring leads, all done over a bed of distinct yet not overpowering drums. Vocalist Albert (his other job is as an extreme vocal coach btw) gives a suitably ghastly performance on the vocals – my initial fears that the album would be full of clean vocals based on the album opener are thankfully not founded. It is clear from this record that some ten years into their existence, PI have developed their sound well and play with a real sense of accomplishment.

The tremolo is strong on most tracks here and the blastbeats maintain a hefty presence without ever becoming the bane of the other instruments. The production job of renowned Spanish producer Oscar David Raventos (Mr Ax.) is top-notch and really does allow all elements of Portraits to shine to make am impressive collective. My criticism of the album is limited really to it being nothing new. It is well done atmo-black with an almost progressive leaning at times, and I suspect that moving forwards the latter element would do well to be brought to the fore with an increased frequency across future releases. At times, it does drift towards being too accessible for me and loses some of the more conventional ideology of the genre along the way. Still, it manages to chime and resonate in all the right places and overall is a find I plan to revisit.