The music of AURAS isn’t “challenging” for its own sake. The goal is to inspire, to push upward and persevere. The ambitious and evolving quartet aspires to a “progressive” ideal in its purest form, each of them committed to the power of smashing boundaries.

The band destroys any notions of the dreaded “sophomore slump” with their moving groove-metal masterpiece, Binary Garden. It’s ten songs of psychic exploration across musical frontiers. It could be mistaken for the work of alchemists or shamans, were it not for the warm charm of four lads from Waterloo, Ontario who worship Super Smash Bros. and beer pong with nearly as much dedication as their discipleship of groove.

A conceptually driven head trip worthy of an episode of “Black Mirror”, the new AURAS album explores the complex relationship between humankind and technology, as people evolve from symbiotic parts of mother nature into cybernetic bits of code. The intellectual depth of the subject matter on Binary Garden is juxtaposed by its immediate accessibility. The expansion of AURAS into bigger melodic hooks is more suited to the digital single oriented era than ever, even as Binary Garden works as a cohesive whole.

AURAS hail from a country that’s produced a high volume of heavy music innovation. It’s the nation that blessed the world with the legendary Rush, prog-metal pioneers Voivod, metalcore madmen Protest The Hero, and death metal stalwarts Cryptopsy. A newer entry to this lineage, AURAS operate in a musical landscape instantly familiar to devotees of Meshuggah, Periphery, The Contortionist, and Tool. But their specific take on the genre combines the bite of thrash, the weight of death metal, and the spirit of hardcore with a hypnotic groove-oriented pulse shrouded in a captivating atmosphere.

AURAS have demonstrated their skill at shifting from bludgeoning riffs to ambient experimentalism and back again across two stellar albums and as many EPs. Audiences have been properly enraptured by their sound, taking in their immersive performances alongside celebrated acts like The Contortionist, CHON, Erra, and Toothgrinder.

MetalSucks hailed AURAS as one of “the most cutting-edge, forward-thinking young metal bands on the scene today” in their announcement of the 2016 MetalSucks tour.

Vocalist Eric Almeida, guitarist/vocalist Josh Ligaya, guitarist Aaron Hallman, and drummer Nathan Bulla first made their intentions clear with their initial EP, Panacea (2013). A follow-up single, “Adverse Condition,” firmly established them as like-minded creative peers of bands like Tesseract and Disperse. The Circle Pit declared them Band Of The Week before they’d even done much touring. The Crestfallen EP (2015) hit #1 on the iTunes Metal chart and was picked for inclusion on Spotify’s Best New Metal playlist.

Heliospectrum, the debut full-length offering from AURAS, was the inevitable culmination of years spent perfecting their sonic brew in basements, clubs, and rehearsals, honing a mix of unrelenting heaviness, complex riffs, and melodic ambiance.

As New Noise raved in their four-star review, “AURAS specializes in chaotic intensity married with passages of staggering beauty (and nice melodic touches strewn about).” Canada’s Exclaim! observed, “Heliospectrum is an indication that, in a genre overflowing with imitators, AURAS are capable of carving out a place that is firmly their own.” Metal Injection’s Nick Abela even included the album on his list of the Top 15 Albums of 2016.

Ottawa native Dean Hadjichristou (Parkway Drive, Protest The Hero, The Kindred) recorded Binary Garden, which was mixed by Jordan Valeriote (Silverstein, Counterparts, Structures). Nick Sampson (Of Mice & Men, We Came As Romans, Born Of Osiris) aided in preproduction as AURAS endeavored to crystallize their ambitious ideas.

Binary Garden saw the band members challenging themselves like never before, from the writing stage through the production process. They shook off preconceived notions and embraced a more “clean” singing and simpler structure without sacrificing their signature sound. The end result features more atmospherics alongside a bigger “feel.”

AURAS continue to throw new curveballs, pulverizing through tight musical corners with precision, filling their songs with rhythmic twitches and warped riffs that beckon listeners down a new rabbit hole with each rewarding repeated listening. It’s all imbued with a deep sense of connection to the audience and an emphasis on communication.

AURAS shouldn’t just be listened to. This is music that simply must be experienced.