Style: Progressive metal, progressive metal (clean vocals, mostly instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Plini, Animals As Leaders, Night Verses
Country: United States (CA)
Release date: 2 October 2026

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Unlike most chronically online music critics, I’ve never held a harsh aversion to country music. I fully understand that the genre’s modern movement is crowded with bland, radio-friendly country-pop, but none of it is as musically offensive as it’s portrayed. Flipping through the Subway’s album sheet, I found something—at least visually—that could potentially prove country-adjacent music still shows identity. Well, beer-drinkin’, truck drivin’, fish fishin’ fun isn’t present on Vaguely Western, Portraits’ newest record; another kind of mathy, djenty merriment takes its place. The name holds up, though: by the twang of the guitar, something is indeed Vaguely Western…

Portraits, a duo of guitarists Joshua De La Victoria and Joseph Anidjar, don vaguely cowboyish wear, posed in a vaguely barren location on the cover of Vaguely Western. Visually, nothing indicates that this is a band that has toured with an instrumental prog giant like Plini. Portraits have, though. In the sphere of shredders, Portraits are gaining traction surprisingly fast:  tens of thousands of listeners is a pretty great feat for emerging instrumentalists.

The men of Portraits are excellent guitarists, laying down a foundation of oddly timed chugs, virtuosic solos, and a range of claustrophobic atmospheres featuring flying guitarwork that never ceases. Laying grooves under the melodies, Lang Zhao provides mathematically satisfying drumwork. Not only the speed and signatures, but the feel of constructed sporadicness of each instrument, where each note clicks frantically in just the right place, never fails to please my prog-trained ears.  Each of Vaguely Western’s eight tracks glides across a careful build of technicality that rivals bands like Animals As Leaders, soloists like Syncatto, and other vibrant, eclectic artists of the instrumental prog metal scene. I cave to progressive and flashy noodling too easily; other critics might see right through the ploys and maneuvers Portraits pull to sound brainier, but I honestly couldn’t care less because Vaguely Western sounds clean. A common critique of instrumental records is a lack of clear progression or direction, and while there are no choruses to keep track of and no direct recurring themes within any single song, Vaguely Western clearly defines each track’s boundaries through, ironically, its most disconnected element: the electronics. For an album supposedly about everything cowboy, Portraits leans too heavily into modern technology.

From the initial moments of Vaguely Western, Portraits establish an electronic presence that never ceases. The first minute of the opening track “Stereoscope” is all ambience, commencing and bookending the blistering metal. Such ambient additions seldom interrupt the maestroness I’ve come to appreciate afterwards; the promotional single “Glitch,” paired with a music video Men’s Wear advertisement, acts as the exception to the rule. Each listen of “Glitch” had me questioning if my earbuds were working properly—super-quick, sporadic “glitches” plague the song, and an unneeded drum’n’bass segment finds its way into the composition. Aside from the electronics, the biggest kink in Vaguely Western’s hose is “Seeker,” featuring singer Madeleine Daye, which breaks the flow of a pure instrumental album. The above choices are contemporary, but in no way as Vaguely Western as the imperceptible guitar tone and twang heard throughout “Heat” or “Red Bourbon.” The obvious and simple sound from the dual guitars can be described by reiterating the album’s title over and over again: they’re not overbearing, and not completely out of earshot. I had to remind myself that if Jacob Umansky proves his worth on the bass (which he does; the speedy slap bass in “Psyche & Matter” is just lovely), and all the aforementioned contributors follow suit (which they do), then I could maybe, maybe, ignore the issues. Alas, I can’t, and the album ends as a pseudo-interesting concept. 

Analyzing Vaguely Western, checking each composition to see if it adheres to the already out-there theme, got tiring after a couple listens. If a band wants to produce a metal album—especially without lyrics—that hints at cowboyhood, yet takes advantage of modern production, electronics, and bits of poppy voices, the point can be easily lost. Portraits are applaudable shredboys caught up in a unique idea that needs some fine-tuning. Or twanging. 

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Recommended tracks: Heat, Red Bourbon, Psyche & Matter
You may also like: Syncatto, Inner Child
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp|Facebook|Instagram

Portraits is:
– Joshua De La Victoria (guitars)
– Joseph Anidjar (guitars)
With guests:
– Jacob Umansky (bass)
– Lang Zhao (drums)
– Madeleine Daye (vocals, track 6)