r/portishead

I want to share a project a friend of mine put together.

A lifelong fan of the Wu-Tang Clan and Portishead, my friend ServiceBANGER set out to put together an album blending Wu-Tang lyricism and Portishead's spooky noir sound. The result, Enter The Portishead Chambers, is a mashup of two legendary icons from the 90s boom bap era. Created with love and admiration for 90s East Coast hip hop and Bristol trip hop, this project drops Wu-Tang’s raw energy into Portishead’s smoky, haunted world. Listening to it, it feels like it was always meant to be here.

This is just something he put together out of admiration for the music - not looking for money, just to share the music with people who like it.

Check it out at the link below.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8gGRuuXA1Q1k34H3YffasJIF_8m0Qx8N&si=icog-dPwWtmb14Fp

Synopsis:

Third is the third album released by Portishead.  It was released on 28 April 2008 it was Portishead's first studio album in eleven years, Third moved away from their earlier trip hop  style, incorporating influences such as kraut rock , Surf Rock , Do Wop  and the film soundtracks of John Carpenter. After Portishead released their self-titled second album  in 1997, the songwriter and drummer, Geoff Barlow , put Portishead on hiatus and moved to Australia. He became uninterested in music, and efforts to develop new songs with the guitarist and keyboardist Andrian Utley  failed. They were inspired to create again after producing The Coral  and restarted work with the singer, Beth Gibbons. in Bristol, England.
Review:
The album opens with “Silence” ; it has this jaunty, grady industrial sound. The percussion has this tribal energy. The song just cuts off rather than fade away which leaves the listener in complete silence. “Hunter” has  this bleak dark jazz melody with Beth Gibbons voice sounding very tender and fragile. It builds with these ghostly yet dense synths that feel so raw. “Nylon Smile” features a dry, clicking electronic beat that sounds almost like a ticking clock or a flickering film projector. It gives the song a sense of persistent, underlying anxiety. It also has a subtle darkness that gives the track a menacing vibe. “The Rip” begins with a quiet fragile ambient jazz groove but soon blooms into this heavy kraut rock sound. “Plastic” has this aggressive electronic groove that feels so industrial. The percussion feels so choppy and jaunty like helicopter propellers. “We Carry On” continues that aggressive vibe but adds some dense undertones to it. “Deep Water” is this simple 90 minute ukulele ballad, a complete change of pace for the record.  “Machine Gun” is this heavy industrial assault filled with some aggressive industrial percussion.  “Small starts out so light and simple but soon builds into these heavy dense textured melodies. The synths sound so raw and menacing. “Magic Doors” is perhaps the most “Portihead” sounding song on the album with its trippy rhythms. They add some weird abrasiveness into the mix. The album closes with “Threads” is anchored by a deep, distorted synthesizer pulse that sounds like a foghorn or a warning siren. It’s a slow, rhythmic "thrum" that vibrates through the entire song.
Why is it considered a comeback?

The 11 year hiatus between albums is a good start but this album is a thunderous return for the band. They basically killed their trip-hop sound and created this dark, heavy, moody record. It captures you and doesn’t let go until the final notes. This would be the last we would hear from the band. As of 2025 they stated they never broke up and have made some appearances throughout the years. The fact that all three members have gone on to have successful solo careers probably adds to the desire of not getting back together. Who knows perhaps in  the next couple years the band will surprise us with a new record. We do have three incredible records from the band

just got this yesterday! I’m not creative at all, so asked my tattoo artist to come up with something in honor of Dummy - this is what she designed. I love it! Any feedback?