Avrigus, hailing fom Sydney Australia has existed for many years, and I have yet to hear of their name until now. That is not surprising however, since Beauty and Pain is their first release in nearly 10 years! The band consists of two main members, Simon Gruer (guitars/drums/keys) and Megan Robins (vocals/keys) also featured is Lee Tassaker (bass) and Vanessa Black (Violin) courtesy of Lycanthia.
Beauty and Pain features five songs, two of which are instrumental interludes that intersect the other three songs. The EP has a dark sort of goth doom tone to it combining a good mix of soft sections with heavy brutality and incorporating synth, strings and violin solos as featured in the song 'Banquet of Souls'. The guitars are nice and heavy, and the bass often uses an overdrive to add to the heaviness.
The title and opening track 'Beauty and Pain' builds itself up into a nice heavy melodic piece of music, featuring a string quartet and harps. The first instrumental song, 'Mudita', reminded me a lot of Opeth in some ways with the type of melodies and instruments used. It has a very watershed era acoustic vibe to it, which I found myself really enjoying. It added a nice happy interlude from the somewhat down-tempo gothic style of the previous track.
'Banquet of Souls' is an inspiring symphonic doom piece that leads in to a film score like instrumental before ending the EP on the mostly-acoustic song 'Reborn. As a whole this CD is excellent and a must have for any fan of Draconian, Opeth, Katatonia or general fans of this type of genre. The only disappointments I can think of regarding the release is that it is digital only.
Beauty and Pain is available now through the band's official page.
Mat N.
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