Put your reviews here!

I listened to it a few times. Shallow and Pedantic.

I think the drummer could use more lessons.

One might easily mistake Left Brain’s new EP, “Bury the Façade,” for a major label release – the artwork and packaging looks that professional. In reality, the CD is a shining example of how attention to detail can produce a DIY product that rivals big-budget releases. But guitarist John Allen’s black, silver and gold-dominated visual art contribution is merely a final flourish, an invitation to experience the music within.

It’s immediately apparent that the members of Left Brain didn’t take any shortcuts crafting the music, either. They have carefully brewed up an explosive, 30-minute mix of mathy progressive rock that alternates pristine, jazzy sections with aggressive, double-bass-drum-driven slabs of hefty crunchiness. Vocalist Tristin Rogers’ voice shape-shifts from clean, nuanced tenor to guttural bellows with ease, adding to the variety of Left Brain’s eclectic sound. The bass lines of Mike Clifford perform a delicate dance, alternately approaching, entwining with, and retreating from Allen’s complex guitar parts while solidly joined to drummer Steve Keater’s polyrhythmic beats. Like the Hydra, “Bury the Façade” rears many heads at the listener as it feints, attacks, contemplates, swarms. Spacious, floating sections morph into densely layered metallic structures and back again – fluxing, refocusing.

From the eerie sample that opens the first song “Take What You Need” to the abrupt conclusion of final track “The Cleansing,” Left Brain changes meter, tempo, and direction with machine-like accuracy, but this band’s greatest strength is blending arcane mathematical formulas and robotic precision with raw human emotion and feeling. The 4-movement final track (Limerance/Hinderance/Persephone/The Cleansing) is a prime example of this, as it morphs through many changes: reggae-tinged guitar and taffy-pull fusion bass tones, tasty blues licks, tribal drums and fuzz guitar undercurrent, soaring vocals over triumphant, clarion-call guitar, pick-squealing metal riffage and outraged roars. Engineer/Co-Producer Sid Garcia has captured the essence of this young band’s variegated sound and harnessed its inherent power. As a result, Left Brain’s “Bury the Façade” is both seamlessly constructed and emotionally accessible, a testament to the quartet’s talent, work ethic and collective artistic skills. Left Brain has arrived.

Holy shit, now thats a review!!! Here's mine, Left Brain's cd kicks ass!

The depth of Bury the Facade comes in a few different flavors, the first and most obvious being its depth of craftsmanship. The professional quality of the album art--all original work by guitarist, graphic artist and self-declared promotion whore Allen--is a gateway into the equally professional and driven musical story inside. Through haunting bass hooks, forceful lyrics, raging guitar and driving percussion, Bury the Facade embodies hard rock with depth not often found on a debut album. Left Brain has arguably earned the moniker "The Hardest Working Band In Burque" and Bury the Facade is one more piece of evidence.

- Alibi Magazine: By Amy Dalness

Damn Racer, you blew my review out of the water. Thanks for taking the time and thought to really listen and understand the album.

(This is my favorite review to date because he seems to really hate the fact that we "sound" like the band Tool.)

Left Brain - Bury The Facade
Self-financed, 2007 6.5/10
http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Left_Brain/Bury_The_Facade/3726/

Speaking of Albuquerque's Left Brain with exactitude is not easy, which is probably the way they like it. This self-described "progressive alternative/metal band" outline their musical objectives in terms that are abstract, trippy, and vaguely scientific-sounding (Odd wording is also characteristic of their lyrics.). Whether Bury the Facade is metal and whether it's a CD or an EP are debatable. One certainty about Left Brain is that Tool is a major inspiration. "Take What You Need" brings both Undertow and Lateralus to mind, while "Arisen" is strongly evocative of the former and "Persephone" of the latter, its melodies, rhythm, and riffing borrowing heavily, to put it mildly, from "The Patient." With the exception of the rather forgettable, bluesy "Limerence," in each song a Tool vibe is present even when other facets of their "orgy of styles," as the band puts it--alternative rock, hints of psychedelia--are emphasized.

Being influenced by one of the few present-day U.S. bands worth emulating is admirable but problematical, in that you're dealing, of course, not just with a highly distinctive sound but with an entire aesthetic. So indelible is the Tool imprint that it basically clones itself, dominating the listener's consciousness, eclipsing everything else. All one can think of is "Ah, Tool." Hell, even the originators have recently been unable to escape criticism for sounding, er, like themselves. Only a presence so subtle as to be barely noticeable and intricately meshed with dramatically striking original and/or contrasting elements allows for significant individualization, and that is not the case here.

A less prominent similarity can be heard in the Maynard-like inflections vocalist Tristin Rogers sometimes uses. Otherwise, he sounds like a thinner, more mewly version of Living Colour's Corey Glover. While the timber of Rogers' clean (primary) voice leaves much to be desired, his growls, quasi-growls, and screams are decent, and he displays good instincts in terms of nuance. He is, in fact, largely responsible for the degree of feeling that pervades Bury the Facade, most affectingly in "Persephone" and in a long interlude during "The Waste," with which I wish they had chosen to end the song, rather than returning to the 3-part refrain, whose identical first and third sections are tiresomely repeated way too many times in the song.

Despite needing to do more to separate themselves from Tool, Left Brain are an adventurous band whose inclination towards "probing for the new," as expressed in their manifesto, should take them in directions where they can distinguish themselves. Some of the less tangible Toolish elements, such as the Lateralus-like, quietly compelling progression of "Persephone" could be achieved in many different ways. They also do some nice things with effects, and I'm intrigued by the experimentation with epic creation represented by the 4-track movement of songs chronicling a relationship ("Limerence" through "The Cleansing"). Left Brain are very young as a band, having formed in 2005, their previous recordings a 10-track demo, on which "Take What You Need" appeared and from which no samples are available, as far as I can tell, and three singles with songs from the demo and Bury the Facade. Already, though, they have established an advanced level of professionalism, as evidenced by the quality of Bury the Facade's sound and packaging (designed by and featuring the artwork of Left Brain guitarist John Allen), and of the band's promotional materials.

written by Maud

Left Brain - Metal Horizon
Current Issue: VOL. 3 - NO. 7
July 18th – August 17th, 2007

Reviewer: Tracy Huberdeau | Northeastintune.com click here for website

Left Brain
Albuquerque, NM
Unsigned
www.leftbrainband.com
Metal / Rock

By: Tracy Huberdeau



Forming in September 2005, Left Brain quickly has risen to a prominent position in the Albuquerque and New Mexico music scenes. Not only earning consistent rotation for songs featured on their debut 7-song EP “Bury The Facade”, but the band emerged victorious in various nominations for local awards amongst the Metal community. In April of 2007 Left Brain was voted 2nd Place for "Best Metal Band" and 3rd Place for "Best New/Emerging Band" in Alibi Magazine - Best of Albuquerque 2007.

To top that off in May of 2007 Left Brain won 2 New Mexico Music Awards for "Best Rock-Metal" and "Best Artist's Website". Songs like “Arisen” and “Take What You Need” (which are a couple of my favs) are just examples of talent and loving what you do combined to create a powerful balance of ‘ass-kicking rockin’ your face off’ at its finest. They seem to favor the airwaves of the local Albuquerque radio stations as well. Scoring gigs at a few of the local music festivals can leave these guys feeling pretty fulfilled when the day is done. With an army of fans in-tow they can create the perfect atmosphere for mosh-pit mayhem any day of the week.

Our music is a thought process that sometimes delves into the darker aspects of society which are important, yet often ignored. We strive to portray the different dimensions of a story or idea through music to ultimately describe an emotional and intellectual state of being…is how Left Brain describes themselves. Dark, brutal, dominating…You’ll have to take a listen to describe them yourself.

Left Brain hosts a band website for all upcoming shows, merch and info as well as a myspace page which displays a lot of support from fans and friends.

By: Tracy Huberdeau