it has been a long five years waiting for these montreal technical death metallers, but they have finally released their sophomore album, fragmentary evidence. augury has created a new sound for themselves, best described as the soundtrack for a space circus: quirky, clean guitar tapping, fretless bass tapping, and playful drumming with plenty of ride cymbal. the new sound is similar to their song 'from eden estranged except a lot more crazy. a great album, but, relatively, weaker than their debut.
1.aetheral
the opener comes flying into you from the upper ether followed by a subterranean growl from patrick loisel. aetheral is classic augury, it doesn't disappoint. as always, imaginative fretless bass work by forest lapointe. the guitar solo is more of a creative lead that came from outer space.
2.simian cattle
lapointe's bass work reminds me of les claypool here. simian cattle has a scary carnival feel to it, almost like manticora's the black circus. augury is pushing their boundaries with a middle section that is unlike anything from concealed. a creative and imaginative masterpiece.
3.orphans of living
this song contains a free flowing instrumental passage that features full bass chords before going into a phenomenal solo, similar to what you'd find on concealed. by now i see that the new drummer fills in his shoes nicely.
4.jupiter to ignite
jupiter has an instrumental opening and plenty of instrumental breaks. it's spacey, and i describe it as harmonic chaos. you hear progressively more acoustic guitars as the song goes. at the five minute mark, a beautiful instrumental passage with a faster tempo shifts the momentum of the song before diving back into loisel's vocals only to rise out again into augury's now seemingly trademarked instrumentalism. this song is a roller coaster between death metal and softer instrumental breaks.
5.sovereigns unknown
loisel changes up his vocals into something a little more audible. sovereigns has a true augury solo that will implode minds as usual.
6.skyless
what can i say? these guys make it seem all too easy, no surprises here. skyless is a solid addition to what so far has been a rock solid album.
7.faith puppeteers
no instrumental passages, faith puppeteers is 100% death metal. faith puppeteers is an unrelenting 4 minutes that makes contrasts well with the next song. as i've read, this song has been played in their live shows for a while now.
8.brimstone landscapes
this one opens with acoustic guitars and pretty noises from the ride cymbal. as in sovereigns unknown, i can hear what loisel is singing at times. two-thirds in, augury surprises with the reprise of female vocals (for the only time on this album).
9.oversee the rebirth
this 11 minute epic nicely sums up what fragmentary evidence offers. augury's new sound is cemented: a mixture of progressive death metal found on 'concealed' combined with their new instrumental sections.
standing on it's own, 'fragmentary evidence' is a wonderful album. yet, looking back with respect to what they did on 'concealed', i'm a little disappointed. i miss having female vocals, i miss their acoustic songs like 'the lair of purity'. none of these elements are on 'fragmentary evidence'. still, augury has further developed their sound, and i respect their creativity and willingness to experiment.
