Portrayal of Guilt and Soft Kill Softly Kill You for Portrayal of Guilt

This past Wednesday, Texas metal ragers Portrayal of Guilt and Portland sad-rockers Soft Kill released an explosive split through Closed Casket Activities, and man, I’m all for it.

To start things off, Portrayal of Guilt’s song “Sacrificial Rite” is a blistering, vicious, brutal two-minute assault, just like in typical hardcore fashion. It’ll have you punching walls and banging your head on tables, and despite its short length, it has a beautiful dynamic that oddly carries you into the next song, Soft Kill’s ethereal “Tin Foil Drop”.

Soft Kill, dubbed by vocalist/guitarist Toby Grave as a “sad-rock” band (moody shit for all the goths out there), further expand on the descriptor with a spacey, shoegaze-y, atmospheric six-minute track that will leave you in tears. It carries bit of synth-pop and Disintegration-era Cure elements to it. It’s a melancholic, moving track that contrasts Portrayal of Guilt’s opener, but in essence, both tracks feature the same dynamic and emotional elements and perfectly complement each other.

This split is quite a surprise in terms of genres, but a very welcome one. Soft Kill and Portrayal of Guilt have toured before, so maybe it isn’t that much a surprise both bands teamed up for this split. I’ve known of Soft Kill for a good minute, and this split introduced me to the grandeur of Portrayal of Guilt. Now, I’m hooked. Maybe splits really are the best way to discover new music!

Each bands’ websites have they split stocked and it’s available on streaming platforms. Check it out!

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