UMUR
"Burn the World" is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish heavy metal act Portrait. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in August 2017. It´s the successor to "Crossroads" from 2014. The band are down to the trio of Anders Persson (drums), Christian Lindell (guitars, bass), and Per Lengstedt (vocals) after guitarist David Olofsson and bassist Mikael Castervall have jumped ship.
The material on "Burn the World" pretty much continue in the Mercyful Fate/King Diamond influenced heavy metal style of the preceding releases, but Lengstedt do have other things in his vocal repetoire than sounding like a clone of King Diamond. So while the music certainly features enough high pitched vocals and harmonies to keep the King Diamond fanboys happy, Lengstedt´s mid-range vocals and some of his screams are slightly more unique sounding. The tracks feature very traditional sounding heavy metal riffs, solos, harmonies, and rhythm work, although some of the tracks are more adventurous in nature than just consisting of vers/chorus sections. Best examplified by the 8:49 minutes long closing track "Pure of Heart".
"Burn the World" is a well produced release, featuring a powerful, organic, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well. It´s not an album which is much better or much different than what they have released before, but it´s another solid album release and Portrait can be proud of what they´ve produced here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.