It has been more than a decade since the proliferation of what is contentiously called djent – progressive metal and rock-inspired music that takes its name from the supposed sound a seven-string guitar makes. This is important to note because it spawned many bands into this particular style – looking up to bands such as Periphery, TesseracT, Textures and even heavier bands like Meshuggah.
What modern prog metal is also characterised by these days is the solo guitarist, who can set up his own bedroom studio and churn out songs. This is how fairly well-known prog bands such as Periphery, Skyharbor and Monuments were born. It has created a sort of subculture of its own, in a sense, even if it is divided the metal community at times.
Around eight years ago, Sushant Vohra started Scarlet Dress as his solo project. A guitarist and a drummer, he was already involved in graphic design. Armed with production knowledge and more, he has been steadily releasing Scarlet Dress material since 2014. His debut album – now including vocalist Michael Rodriguez – is called Endless as a tribute to his mother, who passed away recently. Say what you will about the seemingly formulaic approach modern prog metal takes, there is heart and honesty at the centre of Endless and the emotive energy does not falter any time in the course of nine tracks.
Scarlet Dress kicks into alarming dissonance on songs such as like ‘Nucleus’, while hammering down the riffs on ‘Rupture’ and ‘Words Whispered’. Rodriguez’s growls are entirely primal and in the space of a few tracks, any fan of prog and metal would be hooked in, mainly for the steady rhythmic heaviness that is coupled with accessible choruses and guitar melodies. After a short interlude, Endless moves into its guest features, bringing together vocalist Jordan Chase on ‘Withdrawn’ and guitarist Alan Rigdon on ‘Evade’. Scarlet Dress veers between engaging hard-hitting metal with ‘Chase’ and a fully instrumental track featuring Rigdon. The album closes out poignantly with ‘Empty Breathing’, featuring vocal prowess from Josh Ford about helplessness and holding on.
For all its passion and dynamism, Endless ticks all the boxes for any fan of modern prog/metal bands like Veil of Maya, August Burns Red and Born of Osiris.
Get the album on ascarletdress.bandcamp.com
