Review by Michael on November 19, 2025.

One might guess that Spanish Fatal Portrait are some sort of Mercyful Fate or King Diamond-worship but nope, that is totally wrong. In this case the guys deliver some melodic black metal and with "An Elusive Distinct For Lascivia – RedVx" they re-recorded their album debut from 2001 which originally was called "An Elusive Distinct Of Lascivia" and provided it with a new cover artwork too. This album marks their return from hibernation and their first offering in two decades.

Starting with a keyboard intro I must admit that the guys really got me instantly. This sounds so much like a hidden track from the Hellraiser soundtrack, great stuff. "Dimmensions Of Horror" (don't know if this is a typo or intentional) they continue with this cineastic style. They sound like a mixture of best Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth stuff with a lot of speed and energy.

The songs spread a truly bombastic and epic atmosphere and when I mentioned the pioneers of symphonic black metal before, Fatal Portrait don't put their focus on them only but poach in the whole genre (stuff like Troll or Old Man's Child come to mind also). You can hear a lot of influences but they have knitted a very own and unique kind of music here. And let's be honest – who is expecting something completely new and groundbreaking these days? Apart from the fact that these compositions are from 2001 when Dimmu Borgir just had released "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" and Cradle Of Filth "Midian" which initiated the years of decay for both bands.

Incorporating all that keyboard stuff into the ten tracks they keep up some brutal heaviness throughout all the time. They sound very furious and brutal though due to the thunderous drums and the rasping, grim vocals by Orgen. Sometimes the band weaves some folk elements into the music like in "The Mirror's Miracle" and here and there are some acoustic parts to find too.

The production is very warm, clean and dynamic and fits really well to this kind of black metal. Every instrument is clearly recognizable and nothing is overproduced or too much in the background here.

Unfortunately I don't have any lyrics but songs like "Cantabria Under Siege" let me guess that they deal with some historical facts (maybe it has something to do with the Roman Empire or the War of the Spanish succession) as well as some more emmm… blasphemous stuff ("Agnus Dei" which means lamb of God).

Now let's hope that they will stay out of hibernation for some more years and get some new stuff composed so that we will hear more music from them soon.

Rating: 8 out of 10