Portrayal of Guilt’s new album, …Beginning of the End, is a curious title for a band that has treated each release like a new creative starting point, constantly reinventing itself since their inception less than a decade ago.
…Beginning of the End embraces both groove and the avant-garde, revisiting the raw, teeth-gnashing intensity of their previous work while incorporating elements of nu-metal, alternative rock, trip-hop, dark ambient, and other disparate influences. The latest effort feels like a band that has traversed every shadowy corner of heavy music, distilling their decade of innovation into a singular show of force.
Throughout the years, the revered Austin trio have toured the world over, creating their own musical ecosystem. Across three seminal full-length albums, they’ve operated without compromise—welcoming experimentation and resisting labels beyond “menacing,” “compelling,” and “must-hear.”
…Beginning of the End was recorded and mixed by Phillip Odom between March and June 2025, with mastering handled by Will Yip. It marks Portrayal of Guilt’s fourth studio album in eight years, and their third with Run For Cover Records.
I sat down for an interview with vocalist/guitarist Matt King.
How did the writing process for this album come to be? You said in a previous interview it wound up taking all of 2025.
It was 2024 when we were initially supposed to write the album, but we ended up touring all year. It was mainly just working on demos on the computer since our drummer lives in New York. Because of that, it took a little bit longer.
What’s different about this album versus Devil Music and the work before that?
Probably just the fact that the songs came together on the computer. When the band started, I would demo songs that way, but more so now than before, I had more time to sit with songs and add layers. The recording itself took place from March/April through June 2025.
Some of the influences mentioned with …Beginning of the End are Korn, Deftones, and even Massive Attack. Have you always taken from those corners of ’90s music, or was it more pageninetynine earlier in your career and Korn now?
The band started from my love of screamo. But there was no particular direction involved in this specific album. It just comes from listening to all different kinds of music, which makes it hard to categorize what we’re doing. Every time we do this, it just kind of happens.
What are your favorite nu-metal albums?
Obviously, Korn is my favorite band. Life Is Peachy… all of the Korn albums. I also like Limp Bizkit, and Wes Borland is a great guitar player. There’s scattered nu-metal that I like, but no one album really sticks out beyond that.
I think Portrayal of Guilt exists in the same pocket of punk/hardcore as AFI, Title Fight, Ceremony, and Porcupine—always changing with each release, pushing new boundaries. Do you set out to mix things up with every album, or do your influences just change so you change with them?
I think it’s a natural progression. Time and place. When we started, there was a particular direction in mind, but the shift has been natural. From the songs we’ve released so far, people have said it sounds like Korn or Godflesh, but we aren’t trying to do anything specific like that.
Tell us about the music videos for this album. Your videos always feel like short films, and this round feels like chapters in a larger piece, similar to the Devil Music short film.
Really, it’s Craig Murray who did those videos. We’ve been working with him for a while. He did a double video and one for “CHRISTFUCKER.” Originally, he was going to make two videos, but ended up making a third for “Ecstasy.” That’s totally his vision. Everything he does is so fucking good. His videos take me back to old MTV, MTV2, and Fuse, where videos had compelling storylines. These feel like a great trilogy.
Is …Beginning of the End the beginning of the end of the band? I have to ask that annoying question.
Nah. It’s unrelated, I would say. Shit always seems so grim—life itself. That’s more or less what the title is about. I wouldn’t mind if people took it their own way, but we’re probably speeding up.
Tell us about Portrayal of Guilt Records—what’s in the works on that side?
I’ve been working on it a lot this past year. It’s more or less a passion project, at least for now. I’ve been putting out records for friends. I get a lot of bands reaching out, but I think people forget it’s just me running it. I’d like to take it more seriously, but the band is so demanding that it’s hard to move everything forward at once.
I’ve definitely put out some cool stuff so far, and there are a couple of things coming down the line. Putting out our own records through it is maybe the plan for the future.
Any further along on working on a film score of sorts?
No progress, unfortunately. But that would be a dream—writing music for a film. Just putting it out there, let’s make it happen.
How are things coming along for your other projects—Fleshripper, Psalm, and Test?
Pretty well. Test was retired about a year ago. I’m working on a Fleshripper album, so hopefully something happens there. Psalm just recorded a full-length, and I think they have a split coming out soon.
Any chance you’ll be reissuing the self-titled EP for the 10-year anniversary next year? It’s going for $60 on Discogs.
Is it really? Wow. I have been thinking about that. We own it, and I have the artwork. It’ll either be a reissue through our label or maybe a collection of early material all in one place. That might be cooler than just a 7”. It’s definitely something we’re considering. I know our first LP is getting reissued through Closed Casket, so we’ll get moving on that.
Last word is yours.
Shit. I hope people don’t hate the fucking record. That’s all I can hope for.
***
…Beginning of the End is out April 24th via Run For Cover Records (pre-order).
Portrayal of Guilt on social media: Facebook | X | Instagram
Portrayal of Guilt tour dates:
5/09 Austin, TX – Mohawk ~
5/12 New Orleans, LA – Siberia *
5/14 Memphis, TN – Minglewood Hall (1884 Lounge) *
5/15 Birmingham, AL – TrimTab Brewing *
5/16 Chattanooga, TN – The Boneyard *
5/17 Louisville, KY – Portal *
5/19 St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway *
5/20 Cudahy, WI – X-Ray Arcade *
5/21 Minneapolis, MN – Zhora Darling ^
5/22 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle ^
5/24 Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle Brewing ^
5/26 Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s ^
5/27 Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme ^
5/28 Detroit, MI – Lager House ^
5/29 Hamilton, ON – Bridgeworks ^
5/30 Toronto, ON – Prepare the Ground (The Cave)
5/31 Montreal, QC – Sotterenea ^
6/01 Medford, MA – Deep Cuts +
6/02 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge (In the Round) +
6/03 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s +
6/04 Washington, DC – DC9 +
6/05 Durham, NC – Stanczyks +
6/06 Savannah, GA – Dog Days Fest
6/07 Atlanta, GA – The Earl +
~ w/ Street Sects and pageninetynine
w/ Street Sects and Taraneh
^ w/ Street Sects and Halloween
w/ Street Sects and The Infinity Ring
Tagged: portrayal of guilt
