Portraits Of Past was a hardcore band from the San Francisco Bay Area who were active from 1993-1995. During this time they released two demo tapes, a 12" album, a split 7" with Bleed, a compilation CD of all their tracks in 2008 and then a reunion 12" EP in 2009. They also had tracks on two compilation LPs. Members of the band went on to join a multitude of other bands including Funeral Diner and Torches To Rome.
Portraits Of Past is one of the most outstanding and notable bands of the 1990s DIY hardcore scene, however ironically, they did not become so well-renowned until after the band split up. Their sound was very much ahead of it's time and was never very appreciated while they were active, but became much more popular going into the early 2000s. There's a funny story behind why there are two versions of their 12" album. The original copies of their album were not selling at all and the band was very unsuccessful which lead to their split up in 1996. Years after this however, the band blew up seemingly out of nowhere and people all of the sudden loved Portraits Of Past. By this point the band had recycled all the original album art and inserts, but with the sudden increase in demand the album was repressed and they screen printed the inside of various other record sleeves as covers. We're lucky enough to have a copy of both an original and screen printed version now!
Portraits Of Past has an extremely powerful and intense sound with the shrill emotionally driven vocals and a slightly metallic tinge to the heavy instrumentals. It's honestly surprising they weren't more appreciated in the early 90s but I'm glad they garnered more attention after their split up and now are well appreciated by the hardcore community as they deserve to be.
Portraits Of Past / Bleed Split 1994 (Ebullition)
S/T 12" 1996 (Ebullition)
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