By Andrew Bansal
AUG is a New Jersey-based hard rock quartet that started out in 2010, and on the strength of their debut album ’20 Years In Hell’, they became the host band for VH1 Classic’s ‘That Metal Show’ annual Christmas parties over the past three years. Now, they’ve just released their sophomore full-length album ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, an album that firmly puts them on the hard rock map.
Strongly inspired by early Ozzy and the likes of Guns ‘N Roses, this 9-track, 41-minute album is hard rock at its purest and draws the listener’s attention right from the get-go with the title track as its opening tune. The album’s initial all-guns-blazing momentum is carried forward by tunes such as ‘Little Green Fairy’, ‘The Devils Rejects’ and ‘Light Of Day’, and it goes on to present excellently crafted songs like ‘Coming Home’ and ‘All I Can Be’ in its second half. In all honesty, there isn’t a single dull moment to be had on this entire album as it’s all-killer, no-filler in every sense of the term, although the cover of Toto’s ‘Africa’ is slightly misplaced and unnecessary, but I’m not a Toto fan in the least bit so my opinion on this might be a bit skewed and biased.
While the self-harmonizing and auto-tuning in the vocals might be off-putting to some listeners, it fits the music in my opinion as it’s reminiscent of what Ozzy Osbourne did on his classic solo albums such as ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ and ‘Diary Of A Madman’, and besides, the organic nature of the guitar, keys and the rhythm section provides a balancing act and maintains the old-school rock vibe.
There is a grave shortage of good ol’ hard rock bands these days, but with this impressive album, AUG might just be the call to arms for people seeking this type of music. The album should, hopefully, enable AUG to break out of the New Jersey circle and make a more widespread mark on the world of hard rock and heavy metal.
Rating: 9/10
Release Date: June 1st 2014
Track Listing:
01. Be Careful What You Wish For…
02. Little Green Fairy
03. The Devils Rejects
04. Light Of Day
05. Coming Home
06. Forever: Goodbye
07. All I Can Be
08. Africa (Toto cover)
09. BCWYWF Expanded Version
Links:
AUGrocks.com
facebook.com/AUGrocks
twitter.com/AUGrocks