Ancient Fragments Release Visceral Prog Album "Vestige"

by The Metalverse

Updated November 16, 2025

Tracklist

Naive
Fever Dream
Here I Remain
On Shore
Horizion
Tideworn
Windskin
Stormchild

Review

Forming in Barcelona in 2018, metal act Ancient Fragments just released their latest album Vestige on November 14th, 2025. The album tells the tale of a protagonist's journey, leaving a place of false comfort to find a more stable home. Their journey across the sea represents a battle against depression, self-hatred, and suicidal tendencies, along with struggles with alcohol abuse and toxic relationships. The band leaves the outcome of the protagonist's journey up to the listener to interpret.

The first track, Naive, starts with dark ambience and chiming pads before launching into crushing guitar riffage that quickly showcases a chunky djent sound. Vocalist Pipi Gogerl is soon introduced as soaring female vocals add a bright melody that cuts through the heavier instrumentals. Screaming and growls are introduced in short bursts, showing that clean vocals aren't the only thing in Ancient Fragments' repertoire. Naive takes anthemic rock and pop-influenced vocal hooks, creating addictive melodies while instrumentals creating progressive, grooving instrumentals that keep things highly interesting.

Fever Dream starts with bouncing synths before introducing a chunky riff that reminds us of iconic acts like Meshuggah. While Ancient Fragments has an excitingly progressive sound, they stay palatable for people who don't prefer to listen to just instrumental music, as infectious vocals that at times remind of modern metalcore, lay down energetic choruses that keep your attention throughout. Fever Dream features one of my favorite choruses of the entire album, with soaring vocals and multiple back-up singers creating a layered sound that feels dynamic and upbeat.

Here I Remain begins with a fast tempo as bright guitar leads, electronic elements, and slamming drum grooves suddenly make way for drop-tuned djent destruction and explosive screaming. Suddenly, things change pace, bursting into singing that alternates with screams, creating a powerful dynamic between melody and brutality that keeps things fresh and varied between faster verses with racing guitar runs. I love how Ancient Fragments layers progressive instrumentals with wildly catchy vocals, creating a sound that is intricate, filled with depth, and unpredictable.

On Shore introduces itself with a slower tempo as drawn-out singing is complemented by distant, bouncing guitar and a clangy bass tone that adds a satisfying sense of impact. Ancient Fragments showcases impressive multi-octave vocal acrobatics ranging from incredibly high singing to deep growls, creating a drastic contrast between melodic choruses and crushing breakdowns filled with chugging, dissonance, and extreme metal action.

The longest song of the album, Horizon, starts with distant vocalization as melodic keys are backed by heavy guitar strumming before the song picks up, adding harsh screams into the fray. The juxtaposition between Progressive down-tuned guitar, angelic vocals, and bright melodic influences creates a unique mix of sound across the frequency range, building massive soundscapes that are packed with complexity that stays highly-interesting. Horizon slows down at a bridge as everything but the piano cuts out before things are slowly reintroduced before building into a final chorus with very impressively high vocals layer over the multiple other vocal tracks.

Tideworn wastes no time, launching directly into ferocious screams and slamming guitar as impactful drums add a grooving intensity. Suddenly, singing is introduced overtop of harsh vocals, before jumping into a metalcore-esque singing chorus that adds an unexpected change in dynamics. Verses showcase more polite vocals that build anticipation before leading into explosively energetic choruses. Choir-like singing comes from the distance while more pronounced main vocals cut through heavy guitar riffs, creating a catchy outro that fades out the song nicely.

Windskin blasts into action with a lofi guitar riff that grows in volume before jumping into full clarity, as electronic beats and haunting vocals create an ambient sound that is accompanied by birds chirping, creating a life-like sound. Syncronized thumping bass and kick drum patterns create a chunky background as singing creates a progressive sound that soon builds into a full guitar onslaught. The song's chorus features primarily singing, with accent words being screamed, adding a well-executed sense of contrast. At around the halfway point, the song suddenly cuts back as trap beats and ambient pads are introduced along dark choir vocals, creating a trippy, melting sound. Soon, piano and full vocals are brought back as full band destruction is brought in to be cut out once again.

Stormchild bursts into life with dark, eerie vocals and a slamming riff that reminded me a little of early Spiritbox as djent guitar and singing vocals increase in pace and energy as the song builds. Ancient Fragments jumps into an electrifying chorus with layered singing and impactful guitar chords before jumping back into, in my opinion, one of the strongest verses of the album. Stormchild feels like one of the standout tracks, excellently balancing singing and screaming, along with brutal metal breakdowns and more progressive sections.

Overall, Vestige is one of the most impressive rising metal band releases I've heard lately. Ancient Fragments takes a modern progressive metal sound and mixes it with electronic influences, jazz, djent, and extreme metal, creating a sound that is both memorable and exciting. Fans of bands like Jinjer, Spiritbox, TesseracT, and Animals As Leaders will certainly enjoy Ancient Fragments' sound.

You can stream Vestige available everywhere now: