THE AURA

"The Aura" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian, Montreal, Quebec based death metal act Beyond Creation. The album was released through PRC Music in April 2011. Beyond Creation features among others, Augury bassist Dominic "Forest" Lapointe.

...bearing that in mind it´s no surprise that the music on "The Aura" is technical (slightly progressive) death metal in the vein of Augury, Obscura and Vale of Pnath (another newcommer to the scene). The musicianship are outstanding, the sound production is clear and powerful, and the songwriting adventurous and challenging. While all members of the lineup deliver incredibly tight instrumental performances I have to give a special mention to Dominic "Forest" Lapointe. His fretless basswork is simply amazing and fortunately the bass has been given a perfect spot in the mix where it is audible at all times. The vocals are fairly standard for the genre, alternating between deep growling vocals are and a higher pitched snarl. They are alright but if you ask me the music could have prospered from a more unique sounding vocal style.

The 10 tracks on the 52:40 minutes long album vary from shorter instrumental tracks, to "regular" length tracks, to a mastodon like the 11:09 minutes long closing track "The Deported". No matter the format, Beyond Creation write strong and entertaining material that´ll keep you on your toes but also make your head bang.

Upon conclusion "The Aura" is one of the strongest technical death metal albums released in 2011 along with "The Prodigal Empire (2011)" by Vale of Pnath. There´s that something "extra" about the album that makes it stand out even though it´s not necessarily the most original sounding technical/progressive death metal album out there. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is fully deserved.

Brutality, subtlety, technical expertise and melody never combined as beautifully as this! Such a stunning achievement from this Canadian band of wizards. Being myself a Bass player I must acknowledge Dominic Lapointe's astonishing fretless work. A sublime performance from all but Dominic's performance is beyond belief. Having said that, the drumming is Mammoth throughout and the guitar work will send shivers down your spine with it's virtuosic acrobatics and stunning sense of melody. The vocals are wonderfully harsh and malignant and the two tones, one cavernous and the other shrieking, combine very effectively. But the most surprising and rewarding facet of this album is that despite all the shredding and virtuosic display, the songs flow effortlessly with enormous aesthetic elegance and sumptuousness. The songwriting is truly top notch and the songs are really cohesive and coherent..they are even majestic and beautiful at times. It's almost impossible to hear the flutter of a butterfly's wings in a storm..but Beyond Creation managed this miracle of sound.