Italy’s Postvorta Pack Gargantuan, Perfectly Crushing Post-Metal On Latest Album

Listening to the brand new album Porrima from the crushing Italian post-metal group Postvorta feels like observing and eventually immersing in the stirring waves of a huge sea. These often quite lengthy songs feel like they’re funneling the the hugeness of a vast expanse into a personally pummeling creation. Even the frequent lengthy atmospheric portions on Porrima feel emotionally pummeling — the somber relentlessness feels soul-chilling.

Frequently, the band stick to creeping, atmospheric performance — although definitely not always. On track one, called “Epithelium Copia,” the guitars build into solemn blasts that feel like they’re unfurling with a slightly erratic skip in their step, and an intricate, atmospheric drum pattern also emerges. The hugeness of the crushingly heavy riffing when it does surface gives the music the feel of noticing an indefinite extension off into the horizon of some storm-wrenched sea. Amidst these moments, the vastly slower, atmosphere-setting portions feel like they’re encapsulating a haze slowly floating along the water’s surface and ominously suggesting that even more volatility lurks right below.

The opening of track two, called “Vasa Praevia Dispassion,” feels like a sudden rush across the surface of that metaphorical sea. On the song, a cacophonous, jagged melody that feels like a collection of unwieldy parts funneled into a sweeping, forward energy eventually evolves into a huge methodically trodding riff. On this song and elsewhere, Postvorta repeatedly dial back and then build up their performances, which feels like establishing the ground for the real psychologically amplified power. There is, quite simply, a lot of power in this album, and it sweeps around like a menacing yet explosively alluring storm. The band’s performances and sound both carry a ton of energy and crushing weight.

Dynamic swings include the ethereal, crushing cacophony of “Decidua Trauma Catharsis” and the crushing heaviness of “March Dysthmia,” which features a kind of upward lurching push underlying the riffs. 

The torrential waves of guitar riffing feels like they’ve got a hardcore-esque beastliness, which feels echoed in the Cult of Luna-esque, roaring vocals. Towards the end of track one, slow and heavy, massive breakdowns even peek through the shadows, situated in a relentlessly crushing atmosphere. The band utilize startling but expertly calculated turns from one contrast to the other, and the whole mix feels united via sporting a similar huge energy, which evolves into melancholically meandering guitar performances that close out the album.

5/5 Stars

Check out the music below! It’s available via the band and Sludgelord Records