Review: Vestigial - Descending Vastness

Artist: Vestigial

Album: Descending Vastness

Label: Cyclic Law

Release date: July 2025

Many amazing artists from the dark ambient scene have disappeared into the abyss over the years, but it's rare to see one of them come back out of it. To my great joy, such is the case with Vestigial, a cult dark ambient act from Italy whose debut album Translucent Communion made major waves when it came out in 2008 on the legendary Cold Meat Industry. Inexplicably, despite the project's popularity and several live appearances, a sophomore album never came about - until now. Emerging from the shadows, seemingly out of nowhere, Cyclic Law announced the return of Vestigial, but the question lingering in my mind was whether the project still had something interesting to offer 17 years later to a scene that has changed so much since then.

Having listened to the album countless times over the past few weeks, I can confirm that the answer is a resounding yes. Descending Vastness is, to put it quite bluntly, a lesson to all aspiring artists out there on how quality dark ambient is made. Everything that made the early Cyclic Law releases so great and so impactful is present here - the spacey synths, chiming bells, distant metallic noises, deep rumbling drones, subtle rhythmic structures, ethereal melodies, and the one spice that truly distinguishes Vestigial from his peers - electronic, heavily processed voices dispersed throughout the background, a bit like radio transmissions lost in time and space. Of course, what makes genuinely great dark ambient is not the ingredients you put in, but how you combine them into a coherent whole, and this is where Vestigial shows his mastery of the genre. While we didn't have such denominations back in the day, Descending Vastness is a fantastic example of what we'd today call cinematic dark ambient, in the sense that there's an incredibly strong sense of context and progression, without going as far as becoming a proper storyline; there are plenty of gaps for the listener to fill with his or her own imagination. The most striking feature of the album is the impeccable dynamics that drive it, with every single element being carefully placed and amplified for the optimal effect, with Through a Million Points of Time as a particularly impressive example thereof. The constant play between quietness and loudness and the sonic chiaroscuro that emerges as a result are nothing short of masterful, and the album flows wonderfully from start to finish despite all tracks being different from each other and there never being a second of actual silence. Do You Want to Hear the Earth Cry? is a wonderfully fitting closer to the album (both as a track and as a question), but you might be tempted to press replay immediately afterwards anyway.

In sum, Descending Vastness is a fantastic comeback album and, much like its cover art, an absolutely massive statement in its own right. It hearkens back to what I personally consider the golden age of dark ambient, and is therefore bound to warm the hearts of old & new fans alike. Rarely have I had the opportunity to recommend an album unconditionally, but in this instance it's well and truly deserved. As long as we don't have to wait another 17 years for the next one.

Rating: 10/10