The Swedish metal scene seems to be flourishing again. Wolf is alive and ravenous, 2010 gave us a pretty damn cool album in Diamonds from Enforcer, and 2011 spat out this, Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae from the fiery Portrait. Their self-titled debut was very reminiscent of Mercyful Fate and so is this. That was poor wording, sorry, this is balls-out, shameless Mercyful Fate-worship, except that this tends to be a bit speedier. In other words, get ready for a rollercoaster through occult horrors and evil chasms of diabolical creatures and the nastiest of demons.

The opening licks and riffs of Beast of Fire are enough to pull you right into this. Couple the fleshy sound with the piercing wails of Per Karlsson, and you pretty much have the pict err.. portrait. Karlsson sounds very much like the King himself, though the Danish overlord possesses a wider range and more distinct characteristic style. Add demonic backing vocals, and the odd organ here and there and you pretty much have the Fate in murderous disguise.

Firmly rooted in the old school, Portrait crashes on from the first moment of horn-throwing, mind-blowing heavy metal. Unholy fire will burst from the abyss with each stroke of the axe, classic influences are all over the place making this all the more awesome. The double, power-wielding guitar-work from black wizards Richard Lagegren and Christian Lindell is top notch, and not surprisingly driving the music here. This album is all about the riffs and the quality is fucking ace. Laden with speed they twist and turn, spewing fire, melting heads.

This is short but to the point. There’s really nothing more to really say. If you like heavy metal you’ll like this. If you bow to King Diamond you’ll heed this. It’s sharp and glorious, ripping faces and taking names. See you in hell.