From their Facebook page, "coming straight up from Marseille (South of the France), FIFE AUGURY is a duo formed by two young multi-instrumentalists. Driven by the quest of diversity and the inspiration of numerous and eclectic influences from acts such as GENESIS, STEVEN WILSON, BEN HARPER and PAIN OF SALVATION, they deliver a sharp and modern Progressive Rock modeled by their love of changing ambiences, emotive melodies and musical technicality." Their debut album here contains eight tracks.

"Escaping Light" leads off the album. It opens with some heavy accents and leads over top. From there comes a faster moving groove, with some guitar dissonance. The vocals however are bit off...they really don't connect well with the music in my opinion until the chorus. The more ambient sequence after the half-way mark is nice. Here is where we get some of the changes they were talking about, and the transitions are spot-on. "What I Should be" is a shorter song that begins with bass guitar notes and some high-hat. Guitar strikes come next, with a little bit of keys. The groove that develops from there is thick with keys, then it backs off to just some light bass and vocals. The melodies flow strong in the chorus.

"Wave" begins with soft, clean guitar strums. The vocals are poignant and emotive. The sound remains fairly soft and dreamy throughout, ending on a bit of a crescendo. "Plurality" is a quick two-minutes, barely registering at all. "Singularity" is a massive eleven-minute track, opening with a heavier sound. Bass and vocals carry the first verse. It builds slowly in layers. As we approach the mid-way point, the guitars begin this steady attack, while the bass flows, creating this mesmerizing rhythm, complete with harsh vocals. It flows easy from there to completion. "Speed of Asia" is another shorter song, entering with bass and guitars and a bit of a faster moving groove. The melodies are subtle here, but charming. The keys are a nice touch here as well. The landscape completely changes at the half-way mark, dropping into a new key with some Asian sounds present.

"When Owls Fall" opens with a pretty little melody and dreamy vocals. Just after the half way mark, piano and old school keys take over with a heavy riff. Some accents drop and then a guitar solo carries the song to completion. "Shape of a Tree" closes the album, at over 12-minutes in length. It begins with a heavy and speedy guitar riff...probably the heaviest the band has been at this point on the album. The song is on the darker side of the spectrum as well. It drops then suddenly, to just some piano notes and background ambiance, and the picks back up to a strong and emotional finish.

I've encountered a lot of this style of Progressive Music this year, since I write about eight reviews a week and Progressive Rock/Metal is a genre that I really fancy. It's clear that this duo is talented, and the songs are diverse enough from track to track. Unfortunately, what is missing is some of those big, emotional peaks that can send chills down your spine. It is the band's debut album, and it's a good release. Perhaps they can find this with some future work.