Augury - Concealed
Galy Records
Technical Death Metal/Grindcore
10 songs (47:39)
Release year: 2004
Augury, Galy Records
Reviewed by Jason
Surprise of the month

One of the newest acts to hit the Quebec metal scene with a bombastic blastbeat explosion are technical Death/Grindcore metallers Augury. Consisting of 4 prominent Quebec metal veterans, Augury serves up a dish of flamingly metal that ranges anywhere from destructive grunting mayhem, all the way to lighter and atmospheric interludes that borrow heavy influence from bands such as Opeth.

I don’t know what’s been going on with the Quebec metal scene lately, but it seems every time I’m given a promo of a band that is said to be promising I’m always pleasantly surprised. Augury is no exception to this rule. To get a good picture of what Augury sounds like, picture the technicality of Neuraxis combined with both the harshest and mellowest moments of Opeth. Listeners will be treated to psychedelic sounds and acoustic guitar interludes which transform themselves into flurry of mind boggling drum work, complimented by heavy crushing guitars that aren’t afraid to sacrifice their down-tuned sound for a session of rampant solos.

The album begins a tad weak with the tune titled Beatus, which is an aggressive and ghostly track which has Arianne Fleury’s operatic vocals backing up Patrick Loiselle’s malicious grunts and screams. The weakness of the album’s kick-off is mostly attributed to Arianne’s vocals, that which seems to have been incorporated to add flavor and a ghostly ambience. Instead of being a plus, the vocals work against the band making me think of what Jay’s description Tenebrae sounds like. Though Arianne likely is a talented singer, she doesn’t succeed in complimenting the music with a ghostly operatic voice, but rather with a tremulous and (sometimes) off-note one. Aside from this small weakness, virtually everything on this album kills. Soon after Beatus culminates …Ever Know Peace Again will rip through your speakers hard enough to make you thrash until your brain turns into spaghetti. In fact, the whole album skyrockets for the better and only keeps getting better until the last second. Songs like Becoming God will make you foam at the mouth while the mellower tunes such as From Eden Estranged will take you off to acoustic paradise (The Lair of Purity might even make you do both).

The musicianship is top-notch and the long years of being in the metal business are truly reflected throughout the entire CD. The Crushing bass lines, the soloing in Becoming God and the relentless plethora of cymbal tricks, rolls and blastbeats throughout the whole album are enough to make this album praiseworthy on the behalf of any metalhead.

Will Augury live up to what their band title implies, and be a good omen [for the metal scene]? Time can only tell. For the moment, I highly suggest that any death metal fan should save a few dollars check this release out.

Killing Songs :
Becoming God, From Eden Estranged, Lair of Purity
Jason quoted 82 / 100
Other albums by Augury that we have reviewed:
Augury - Fragmentary Evidence reviewed by Charles and quoted 76 / 100
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