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Augury: Fragmentary evidence

28/12/09 || The Duff

I don’t know why I do certain things to myself, but two weeks without checking out a tech death band and the as expected hives began breaking out, so I chose to pursue common praise surrounding Canada’s Augury, their new album that seemed a follow-up to an highly lauded debut. The band comprises ex-members of Quo Vadis (another Montreal-based death metal band, if you’re left in the lurch), a Death tribute band, Spasme and others, the sound best described as death metal with heavy doses of melody and some dense prog flourishing.

The first thing that will take you aback concerning “Fragmentary Evidence”, other than the album artwork which appears to represent every single sci-fi film you’ve ever watched growing up, is the insanely rich production – thick, lush with just the correct amount of crispness to it, an ever-present degree of bass, loud, heavy with notes that soar; damn perfection if you ask me when considering the music, a combination of intense death metal riffing, fancy Cynic leads, bombastic sections and hypnotic, relaxing cleans, if I didn’t know any better I’d think the production laid out by the hands of the band members themselves so well-tailored it is to their sound.

As for the musicianship, I mentioned tech death, but such a sub-genre has evolved to beyond such a tag in my mind – things have gone from technical to impossible, the benchmark by which I gauge absolute excellence set by bands like Spawn of Possession and Anata; Augury are not on par with such, instead occupying a comfortable middle-ground between Morbid Angel bluntness and the aforementioned bands, with the sheen of Cynic and the added meanderings of a band like Opeth. This is not to detract in the slightest; a lot of thought has gone into arranging and layering the various parts (can’t emphasise enough the key role of bass player Dominic Lapointe, whose fretless bass brings such vividness to the compositions), but Augury clearly have a vision that sidesteps noodling the listener into oblivion (the stuff that makes my asshole dilate) and instead use their adoration for fanciful cleans, heartfelt leads and strict, forceful rhythm sections to form complete songs, y’know with repeating bits and stuff.

In conclusion, this is my major hurdle when coming into the band’s music; for a tech death outfit, they sure prance around a fair deal. At times (and as one of the album’s prime constituents), Augury delve into a mix of power/Viking, but with a futuristic twist – such is the adventurousness of the music expressed, yet I’m not sure if it works entirely in their favour; the death metal sections almost appear accessory in comparison to all the various bits and bobs comprising this vast musical undertaking, I’ll admit as successful as it is provided you’re not entering it thinking you’ll get a pure tech frenzy. I must absolutely commend them on the scale of vocal performances on display, as it enriches the album’s worth ten-fold, the riffs are good but rarely crushing, instead flowing in steady pace with the various guest-singers (many times following suit to my dismay), all in all making this feel more like a heavy Ayreon album and not the complex death-o-pus I was hoping would cure my ailment.

Information
Released: 2009
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: www.augurymetal.com
Band
Patrick Loisel: vocals, guitars
Mathieu Marcotte: guitars
Étienne Gallo: drums
Dominic Lapointe: bass
Shit-tonne of guest vocalists: vocals

Tracklist
01. Aetheral
02. Simian Cattle
03. Orphans of Living
04. Jupiter to Ignite
05. Sovereigns Unknown
06. Skyless
07. Faith Puppeteers
08. Brimstone Landscapes
09. Oversee the Rebirth

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