Portrayal of Guilt have released “Total Black,” the final single ahead of their fourth studio album ‘…Beginning of the End,’ out this Friday via Run For Cover. The Austin trio have spent a decade building one of the most uncompromising catalogs in heavy music, and the new album finds them pulling from every dark corner they’ve explored, combining groove and avant-garde with nu-metal, trip hop, dark ambient, and black metal into something that sounds fully and unmistakably their own. Listen here.
“Total Black” is a pummeling closer to the album’s preview campaign, arriving with a visualizer and landing in the company of critical praise that’s been building since the record was first announced. Stereogum called an earlier track “an even more deranged Korn,” Revolver went with “eerily sensual and supremely screamy,” and Bandcamp praised the band’s “hallmark raw intensity.” Premier Guitar described the record as testing the boundaries of black metal while sinking deeper into the sounds of sadness. That’s a wide range of reactions, which is exactly what Portrayal of Guilt tends to produce.
The band made an immediate impact in underground circles with their debut ‘Let Pain Be Your Guide,’ mixing nihilistic hardcore, black metal, screamo, and imaginative textures into something that felt genuinely new. ‘We Are Always Alone’ and ‘CHRISTFCKER’ followed in 2021, corroding genre boundaries further with industrial music, post-metal, and sludge. More recent releases pushed even further, with the ‘Devil Music’ EP reimagining their sound classically and ‘CHRISTFCKER II’ diving into EBM and goth territory. ‘…Beginning of the End’ feels like the synthesis of all of it, a band that has fully internalized a decade of restless experimentation and channeled it into a single focused statement.
The album was recorded and mixed by Phillip Odom between March and June 2025, with mastering by Will Yip. Touchstones cited in the band’s orbit include Deftones, Massive Attack, Dystopia, Deathspell Omega, Celtic Frost, and Cursed. That’s not posturing. It’s an accurate map of where this record lives.
‘…Beginning of the End’ drops Friday. A North American headline tour kicks off May 9 with a hometown send-off at Mohawk in Austin, running through early June with support from Street Sects, pageninetynine, Taraneh, Halloween, and The Infinity Ring on select dates. Tickets are on sale now.
‘…Beginning of the End’ Tracklist:
- Backstabber
- Human Terror
- Heaven’s Gate
- Under Siege
- Ecstasy
- Death From Above
- God Will Never Hear Me
- Chamber of Misery Pt. IV (feat. Slim Guerilla)
- Total Black
- Object of Pain
- The Last Judgement
Portrayal of Guilt Tour Dates:
May 9, Mohawk, Austin, TX (w/ Street Sects and pageninetynine)
May 12, Siberia, New Orleans, LA (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 14, Minglewood Hall – 1884 Lounge, Memphis, TN (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 15, TrimTab Brewing, Birmingham, AL (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 16, The Boneyard, Chattanooga, TN (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 17, Portal, Louisville, KY (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 19, Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 20, X-Ray Arcade, Cudahy, WI (w/ Street Sects and Taraneh)
May 21, Zhora Darling, Minneapolis, MN (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 22, Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 24, Black Circle Brewing, Indianapolis, IN (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 26, Mahall’s, Cleveland, OH (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 27, Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, MI (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 28, Lager House, Detroit, MI (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 29, Bridgeworks, Hamilton, ON (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
May 30, Prepare the Ground – The Cave, Toronto, ON
May 31, Sotterenea, Montreal, QC (w/ Street Sects and Halloween)
June 1, Deep Cuts, Medford, MA (w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring)
June 2, Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY (w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring)
June 3, Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA (w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring)
June 4, DC9, Washington, DC (w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring)
June 5, Stanczyks, Durham, NC (w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring)
June 6, Dog Days Fest, Savannah, GA
June 7, The Earl, Atlanta, GA (w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring)