Review Summary: Making progressive metalcore progressive again.
Progressive metalcore has felt a bit stuck lately, with many of the genre's key players seemingly moving on from the subgenre. These days, a lot of the more popular bands are leaning heavily into that industrial djent sound. Can’t blame them, though; it’s clearly working. But it’s high time we dive back into the underground to discover some fresh talent in progressive metalcore. One band that stands out is Vestigial, and their album "Wither" is definitely among the top offerings in the subgenre.
It’s easy to look back at classic progressive metalcore with nostalgia, but honestly, albums like "Augment" by ERRA are more formulaic than we might remember. A lot of the tracks on that album sound pretty similar, and what really gives it that "progressive" tag are the grand, expansive soundscapes in the production, and those otherworldy sounding scale choices on the guitar. Everything feels super extravagant. "Wither" follows a similar path, but it really pushes those expansive melodies even further than the classics. Take "Worlds Away," for instance; it sounds colossal, almost like it’s from another universe. The vocals are solid too, featuring clean singing that has a bit of a Thornhill vibe, specifically their "The Dark Pool" era. The huge orchestral elements and synths contribute to that epic feel. These synths are very reminiscent of Celldweller. It never occurred that those Celldweller-style synths would fit so perfectly in progressive metalcore, but they really do. They do an awesome job of boosting that futuristic feel.
The album strikes a nice balance between coherent song structures and a bit of unpredictability. In metalcore, it’s a tricky balance—too much coherence can make things dull, while a little deviation from the norm can be really refreshing. The riffs are on par with the most recognized progressive metalcore bands, and the abundance of blast beats adds an extra punch. That said, the second half of the album definitely outshines the first. It feels way more adventurous. For instance, "T.R.I.B.A.L.I.S.M." sticks to a more predictable structure compared to the later tracks, which is a bit of a letdown.
It feels like progressive metalcore has lost some of its essence in recent years and now stick to the same old song structures. It’s kind of wild how any track with a riff that sounds like Invent Animate gets slapped with the "progressive" label. Progressive metalcore needs to step up and actually be progressive again, and Vestigial is definitely making waves in this fresh revival. The track "Bloom" even features a bass solo at the end, which is super rare in this genre, and it totally works. "Wither" is seriously impressive and stands out as one of the best progressive metalcore albums in recent memory, really shaking things up in a scene that’s been pretty stale for quite a while now.
