Hey there tech fiends! It's time once again for my favorite day of the week, and the early stream train continues once again in today's edition of Tech-Death Tuesday. But as always, before we get to that, if you want to peruse prior editions of this series you can do so here.
Today's target is none other than Minneapolis natives Australis, a group I suspect will be new to most of you reading this. But a pleasant surprise for most I hope, as their debut full-length Spaces of Hope is a solid take on meat and potatoes tech death while being a fresh spin on the sound forged from a multitude of the same influences so many of their peers are likewise inspired by. In fact, Australis even share members with Sunless whom I covered here in this very series just a few months ago!
If groups like Irreversible Mechanism and First Fragment have taught us anything as a scene as of late, its that its possible to utilize the same influences as everyone else, but still create a far more memorable product in the end due to advanced songwriting and an eclectic knowledge of when to mix things up sonically from moment to moment and song to song. In this respect, Spaces of Hope is a phenomenal record that doesn't need to break new ground in order to blow you away. Sure there is an air of familiarity to it, but the compositional style and deft re-combination of so many kinds of tech-death (and black metal influences like Emperor) is all their own. I really see Spaces of Hope as being a release that tech-death heads will flock to in droves.
While the band has been active since 2009, Spaces of Hope is their first full-length and showcases a band who have matured and evolved across the course of their demos and EP leading up to this defining statement for the band. Not that their peers should be knocked for evolving at a different pace, but there does seem to be something noteworthy in the way that Australis have quietly evolved on their own in order to offer up a polished debut that truly distills their years of growth and sonic diversity into a multi-faceted record sure to impress even the most jaded tech fiends out there. If you like what you hear below, Spaces of Hope will officially drop this Friday, June 10th. Pre-orders are available at their Bandcamp page now if you wish to order it before it comes out. You can also follow Australis over on their Facebook page too.
