You know the thing about great metal music, when it hits you it doesn’t hurt, it slays! Unless something drastic happens, Burn The World is going to be my album of the year. Portrait are firing on all cylinders with their hard-edged Mercyful Fate, King Diamond influenced heavy metal and each track grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let loose until the final note. All the leads, screaming vocals, and riffs are expertly done, but most importantly they get the blood flowing and makes you want to bang your head and play air guitar.

From the ominous intro “Saturn Return” the title track erupts and has all the hallmarks of what Portrait has to offer: sharp riffs, furious tempo changes, scathing leads, and vocalist Per Lengstedt brings it all together with his piercing shrieks. Portrait have upped the ante with perhaps their finest song they’ve ever written with “Martyrs”. A majestic track with possibly the “catchiest” chorus they’ve come up with and the brooding, somber middle section fills me with goosebumps every time I put on the song. A true masterclass in heavy metal. Any listener really can’t go wrong with any track whether it’s the thrashy “The Sower’s Cross” (inexplicably not available on the vinyl version), the pulsating “Likfassna”, or the epic desperation of “Pure Of Heart”.

Portrait is another example of why the best metal resides in Sweden along with Enforcer, Tribulation, Vampire, Sabaton, RAM, and so forth. I can’t recommend this highly enough. Truly remarkable stuff.