Blossom & Wither’s Nevermore Balances Brutality with Beauty

Album: Nevermore

Released: March 2025

Nevermore is the debut album from Dutch instrumental post-metal outfit Blossom

& Wither and to summarise before I even begin, this is a seriously powerful journey through raw and visceral music that’s carefully intertwined through subtle melodic interludes and breakdowns. Nevermore is so sonically and abundantly leaden with weight and power that it demands complete immersion.

From the opening track, Collapse, there is an avalanche of power and dexterity to their sound, with down-tuned guitars, cavernous drums, and a bed of distortion so thick it almost seems alive. Yet even in its density there are flickers of light caught up in the maelstrom with those sharp guitar lines slicing through the murk, and rhythm guitars that suspend just long enough to let the atmosphere creep in. Add some snarling blast beats and a deep understated bass line, and you have a near perfect opening track. 

Voices offers a slightly more restrained pace however it doesn’t give up on the heaviness and the sheer energy that tore through Collapse. Here Blossom & Wither explore pace and texture, letting reverb and guitar harmonics breathe, constantly pushing forward and then holding back, making it all become unexpected and unforseen. 

The Yearning, extends to nearly seven minutes and balances the darkest lows with soaring melodic sweeps. The riffs are crushing, especially when layered with thunderous drums, but the melodies, especially in the mid-section, bring a bittersweet clarity to everything, like light filtering through the storm clouds. The Grey is shorter, but its conciseness is its strength. It’s a heavy statement, a brief but intense descent. Then comes Nevermore, which pushes the dynamics all the way to their limit. Slow builds, dramatic shifts, and finally, a pounding crescendo that feels cathartic and altogether spellbinding. The closer Emergence acts as a release and retains plenty of the album’s weight, but finishes on a note of fragile resolve rather than utter collapse. 

Heaviness is the album’s foundation. Guitars are tuned low, drums punish without being over-compressed, a production that lets every crushing riff hit you square in the chest. But what elevates Nevermore is the subtle melodies and nuances buried within every track. The album never becomes monotonous or overpowering, there’s an emotional arc to follow here, a breathing space within the heaviness, I seriously cant find fault with anything I’m hearing. 

Something that deserves special mention is the album’s inner sleeve where every track is noted with a short description, giving insight into what inspired them and what the band was aiming for in each moment. This track-by-track annotation adds so much to Nevermore, it roots the heavy music to a story if you will, helping the listener to hear the choices in texture, in pacing, and in tone. It makes the listening experience all the more richer, because you’re armed with knowledge of what they were aiming for. As well as that, it brings you back to the good old days where you came home with a new record, sat back and read every bit of print on the sleeves!  

Overall, Nevermore is a bold and quite brilliant debut. Reminding me a little of Mitau, by Audrey Fall, it’s intense and crushing, but far from one-dimensional. It’s a record for fans of post-metal, post-black and even progressive metal, and basically it's there for anyone who can appreciate that melody and ambience matter just as much as power and ferocity. If you like your heaviness laced with well crafted melodies, this is an album to have in your collection. 

Nevermore | Blossom & Wither