The relentless, Swedish heavy metal monster known as PORTRAIT was born in the year 2006 and quickly became one of the most talked about acts in the underground metal scene. After the demo tape ‘Welcome to My Funeral’ took the underground by storm, and the release of an equally successful 7″ EP ‘Into the Nothingness’ (New Iron Age Records, 2007), PORTRAIT agreed to a one-album deal with German underground label Iron Kodex Records. The label then licensed the vinyl edition of the self-titled album to High-Roller Records. Two years later, the self-titled debut album sold approximately 5000 copies, making it a high selling release for the label, who has also released albums from cult bands such as Manilla Road, Metal Church, Darkness, and Trouble. The self-titled album received rave reviews in major magazines, including: Terrorizer (8.5/10), Rock Hard (8/10) and Sweden Rock Magazine (8/10) as well as in the underground press.
After the release of the self-titled album, the decision was made to work with a new vocalist. Vocalist Per Lengstedt (formerly Karlsson) stepped into the picture as he shares the same hardworking attitude as PORTRAIT and his musical and vocal abilities are to par with the rest of the group. Stronger than ever before, an 11-date European tour and additional festival appearances (including stops at Sweden Rock Festival, Hole in the Sky, Headbangers Open Air, Up the Hammers and Hell’s Pleasure) followed the joining of Per Lengstedt as PORTRAIT set out in support of the group’s self-titled release.
In the autumn of 2009, the writing process for the follow-up to the debut full-length album had started. Three songs were recorded in Berno Studio (Malmö, Sweden) in December 2009, of which two were released on a 7″ EP titled ‘The Murder of All Things Righteous’, through High Roller Records in March 2010. After joining the Metal Blade roster in the summer of 2010, PORTRAIT finished the material for the band’s second full-length album, ‘Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae‘, and entered the studio in November 2010.
The album was released in May 2011 and received positive reviews in the press. The album was only topped by the by then newly released Journey album in the charts of Rock Hard Magazine. Following the release, Portrait appeared at festivals throughout Europe, including: Bang Your Head, Headbangers Open Air, Rock Hard Festival and Finland’s Hammer Open Air. The band also supported Evile on a three week tour throughout Europe.
After some line-up changes in 2012, the band began to focus on the third album, entitled “Crossroads“. The writing and recording process took about a year and again Tore Stjerna of Necromorbus Studio handled the production with the band. The album is set to be released in April 2014.