PORT NOIR – The Dark We Keep

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7.0

• Bands:
  PORT NOIR
• Duration: 00:49:07
• Available from: 05/15/2026
• Label:

• Inside Out

Port Noir represent a 'young' and hyper-contaminated way of understanding the subject of progressive metal – progressive which in this case becomes a starting point, a primitive colouring, from which to branch out its own tumultuous sonic currents, arriving at a more or less happy synthesis (depending on the circumstances and perspectives of the listener) between bombastic metal, pop, electronics, alternative rock and various and possible melodic softness.
A path that, in broad terms, takes inspiration from Leprous regarding the more purely metallic context and Muse on the more exquisitely pop side.
We had used the latter, in the past, as a perfect comparison – in a metallic sauce – for the scores of the Nordic trio; a sensation that the new “The Dark We Keep” does not evaporate at all, on the contrary, underlining once again the adherence to a way of making music that takes from different worlds, to compress them into a style that is now more homogeneous than usual.

Extremely careful to enhance the size, roundness and specific weight of their guitar and rhythmic pounding, Port Noir strips away the most showy and alluring aspects of their sound, without giving up on a very high level of melodiousness, mellifluous vocalizations and the general propensity to act seductively, like seasoned pop artists.
The overall attitude is therefore less pleasant, less focused on finding the effective chorus, or the contagious groove, there is a persistent vein of melancholy now running through the band's playing, a more severe and melancholy frown. The music then flows shimmering yet shadowy, the guitars lowered to fit into relatively slow rhythms, with some suspicion of djent to corroborate its thickness; abundant effects and surrounding electronics, although it does not become dominant or destabilizing compared to the other instruments.

We perceive an approach to the saddened, dreamy and sophisticated mood of the latest Leprous, with the necessary stylistic and artistic differences, where the band led by Einar Solberg remains at a much higher level of originality.
Port Noir's effort to partially modify their appearance, to seek a new path for their mix of prog, alternative and pop, still manages to convince: the songs appear well constructed, effective in making painful moods interact, fine melodies, well-studied arrangements and a thunderous but controlled rhythmic structure. This makes their way of playing slightly less direct, gaining instead greater depth, a pinch of cerebrality which in prog contexts, even those so apparently easy and blunt, is a pleasure to perceive.
As the minimal cover would already like to announce, we are in the presence of a work with a charm that we would define as noir, elegantly nocturnal: a sly opening like that of “Complicated” goes to confirm this idea, just as the immediately following “Redshift”, despite raising the volumes and the heaviness of the guitars, never becomes disruptive, rather settling on calm cadences, suspended melodies, painful and sadly captivating vocalizations.
All this composure and poise are sometimes disheveled, during the album, in the name of some more vibrant and urgent passage, useful above all to avoid being trapped only in one type of atmosphere, in a pace that in the long run would become monotonous.
In its entirety, “The Dark We Keep” works and makes us appreciate the trio under a partially new lens, which could earn them some points with those who perhaps had crossed paths with them, branding them as something too melodic, 'not very metal' and excessively pleasant.

The level of the compositions, while appreciable, however fails to consistently rise to levels of excellence. There is a lot of excellent modernist prog craftsmanship but few real flashes of genius, or the ability to develop songs that remain in the heart, that could become classics for this genre.
After all, even the singles released before the release (“Noir”, “Burst”, “Ebb And Flow”) are not able to stand out that much, indeed the children of a good talent, however partially trapped in compositional schemes that allow nothing or almost nothing to chance: you can't hear anything so 'special' in the music of Port Noir, who remain good interpreters of the sector, sufficiently personal not to flounder in anonymity, but still far away not only from the already mentioned Leprous, but also from a name like the Australians Voyager, a reality orbiting in a similar subgenre, more skilled in writing songs with melodic turns that remain in the head, that are remembered – something that happens to us only occasionally, despite “The Dark We Keep” sounding good and being listened to with absolute pleasure. Having reached their fifth album, the Nordic trio's journey continues confidently, even if we will probably never be able to ask them for a job that would place them among the leaders of contemporary progressive metal.