Photo by Mette Tegtmeier Olsen

I know what you’re thinking and yes, this is yet another post about Town Portal. When will it stop? Probably never; we’ve been waiting for music for so long from these guys that we are still all giddy from receiving the excellent Of Violence. Out of that album, “Vanitas” is one of the broodier, more melancholic tracks with its main riff all resplendent in prominent bass and shifting drums. Funnily, and pleasingly, enough the band have chosen the English countryside as a good location for a video for this track. And you know what? It bloody well works. Head on down below to check out this surprisingly pastoral video below!

God, I love this band. Their unique dynamic shines through even when they’re basically just standing in a field and playing. By the by, have you ever seen an Orange speaker looking better than when framed by tall, verdant grass? That same kind of lush atmosphere runs through “Vanitas” itself, especially by the time the kick drums start to go full ham after the halfway mark, setting off the introspective outro of the track. All in all, the setting seems to blend marvelously well with the track, giving its darker tones an unexpected, and not unwelcome, interpretation. The band seem to have come to the same realization:

In 2018, when the album was newly recorded, our record label Small Pond invited us over to Worcestershire, UK to play this “small festival in the woods”. Turned out this festival was more of a binge drinking garden party held privately for label people and hangarounds at the house of our label mate Inwards. A beautiful and dangerous collection of people to be around. Before all sanity was lost we managed to shoot this video in this fenced meadow next to the garden. While climbing a cattle fence carrying an 8×10″ bass cabinet I think everyone secretly regretted going with this idea. However, watching snippets on the camera after the first take immediately changed that. Fun fact: At the end of the song you can hear the sounds of the surroundings mixing in with the sustained drone. We liked the uncanny feeling that this added to the songs finale so much that we ended up imitating it on the album.

If, for whatever, ungodly, unseemly, filthy reason you still have not purchased Of Violence, please remedy that oversight through the band’s Bandcamp. Don’t miss out on one of 2019’s better albums.