Editor’s Note: Alec was so upset with my review of this album that he decided to give it a go. I may have to fire him for being so disrespectful.
We have all the time in the world. Abandoning the constraints of the deadline allows for greater development, nuance, and elaboration. By the same token, the urgency to build a project in a limited amount of time can deliver electrical results that are devoid of overproduction. Taking both into account, when an album requires five years to be written, produced and distributed, it better show on the tracks. And it has been a long five years since a Montreal based death metal project named Augury released Concealed in 2004. It started there; Augury was something of a Quebecois super group, drawing the likes of Quo Vadis bassist Dominic “Forest” Lapointe, and latter day Neuraxis drummer Etienne Gallo. To express that Concealed took the extreme community for surprise would be beyond an egregious understatement; it was a fucking phenomenon. Concealed was riff focused blackened death metal with a strong fusion leaning, and that description is still only scratching the surface of what makes that album a landmark release. 2004’s spacey metal trip soon turned out to be another emulsion of a quality Quebec death metal band. The feminine operatic vocals that permeated most of the tracks on Concealed were nowhere to be found on Augury’s 2006 promo (due to the departure of soprano, Arianne Fleury), which was a veritable raw steak thrown to hungry dogs. Five damn years. Five years since Concealed, we are given, no, gifted Fragmentary Evidence.
Fragmentary Evidence does not sound like an album that took five years to create, but it is indeed superfluously awe-inspiring. To jump right in, every track is a tour de force lecture on superior song craft and layering; “Aetheral” begins with portentous mood, channeling towards a beefy tremolo passage turned eccentric slide chords. Yes, it is upon the first iteration that these musicians have a mastery of their trade… But then something special happens. At the 0:45 mark, the weighted chords deconstruct into nimble picking, layered with a climbing note that is matched with guitarist and vocalist Patrick Loisel’s rending scream. Within these five seconds, the effort achieves an unparalleled splendour, a passage so wholly moving that it literally prompts a physical weakness with the listener. The magnitude weakens you. The terrifying truth regarding this is that these moments are not the painstaking result of protracted build up; they simply are. They are self-contained structures that demand all previous notions of brutality and testosterone driven extremity to be violently smashed, allowing for that weakness to be exposed and respected.
Within that very song is a contrasting finale, wherein a devastating breakdown – in 9/4, mind you – commands all the grandeur and gravity it can afford. So brings us to the inevitable confusion that many will feel upon listening. Is this a death metal album? A majority of the content ranges from early nineties Death passages with a smack of Amorphis. Interspersed are higher stringed trills that are not unlike those of many current frontiersmen such as Psycroptic. It also is worth noting that the collective vocals command a staggering presence (with an all star guest cast including Youri Raymonde and Leïlindel), with rich and full growls that are as large as the multitude of sonic development surrounding them (including the oft infamous gravelly singing beats)… It is brutal. Very brutal. The consternation is, on the surface, the inclusion of somber modern/fusion jazz, ghost notes, counterpoint math rhythms, and all. I believe it goes deeper than that however, where these ever-present levels of sensitivity and carefully handled sections bleed evocative and applicable internal dialogues, even throughout the viciousness. “Jupiter To Ignite” is a seven-plus minute mini epic that gracefully moves from climbing riffs into ever shifting melodic exchanges via the aforementioned use of prog and jazz. The symmetry becomes confused, excited, and above all experiential. Is this sympathy allowed within the structural tenets of a death metal foundation? It should not be mistaken that the aggressive and charming are not one of the same. The reacted expectation would lie in the flood of prefix Fragmentary Evidence would recieve; Ok, it’s technical right, so it is technical death metal, but damn it if that guitar tone right there is not some Holdsworth progressive… progressive technical Human era Death metal? This release is fundamentally a death metal release, and while Lykathea Aflame and Cerebrum have successfully married the yielding with the brutal, never has an album so aggressive been so movingly aware of it’s listener’s frailties.
The instrumental dexterity is another element that is worthy of recognition. Firstly, all facets of playing are rendered audible, crisp, and with a striking amount of raw power from the master. The levels are perfect, and all the tones are uniquely identifiable. A major beneficiary of this gloss is Forest, who alternates between a six string bass as well as a four string fretless erratically throughout the album. His playing is motivated, expressive, and joyously personable. The flair for his skill is best heard on “Skyless”, where the eccentricities of his style allow the song it’s due raw violence as well as melodic ambiance that doubles as a mood placement. Never before have I heard technical bravado, heaviness, rhythm and creativity become so homogeneous in one bass performance. The guitarists knock this one out of the park, not only with their sheer skill as players, but in their comfort with all encompassing styles of playing. Their low end work is heavy as all fuck, and prove that passion and a good mixing board can allow you far more brutality than a sterile eight string assault. In “Sovereigns Unkown”, the highlight is the extended soloing courtesy of Loisel and Mathieu Marcotte. Every second of this phrase is awe inspiring, from the unique and newly untapped style of sweep picking, to the overall exceptional writing of some of the most memorable leadwork I have ever heard. Handling percussion, Gallo proves again that he is a world class musician (who has since been replaced by the similarly impressive Antoine Baril of Symbolic fame). From a powerful death metal assault of nuanced blast beats and meaningful cymbal work, his versatility all but complements the all around top tier musicianship to be found here. Like every album, not every idea is as staggeringly relevant as the other, and while there are far from any bad songs to be found here, some sections and patterns are inconsistent (as in the enjoyable yet clustered “Faith Puppeteers”).
“Oversee The Rebirth” ends much as the album begins; with a respect for weakness. All the development converges to create one of the strongest and most evocative closing songs ever put to disc. After five years, I had expected a release from Augury to be one of quality, but Fragmentary Evidence’s near perfection allows this album to be seated beside the likes of Focus and Obscura, even surpassing the quality to be found on either. It is a complete work. At Hearwax, we talk about the genre exodus that is curently taking over; styles have exhausted the preferred norms, and the next decade beckons for output that will define the years to come. Fragmentary Evidence is the first album of that era.
(9.6/10)
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