Left For Red – Human Complex

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Human Complex Cover

Left For Red – Human Complex
FATangel Records
Release Date: 06/04/2019
Running Time: 56:35
Review by ‘Dark Juan’
8/10

Greetings and salutations, my fiendish hordes! Hopefully you have all been following my true word and way and destroying effigies of Christ and defiling His house in unspeakable and indecent ways. If you haven’t, then I hope you have enjoyed a sumptuous Sunday lunch and are now struggling to stay awake because of the rigours of digestion… I myself have opted to cock a snook at the so called day of rest and have been busy painting stuff, inventing a quite astonishing breakfast food involving lashings of chipotle chillies and vegetarian bacon and am now drinking beer and experiencing the stylings of Black Country metallers Left For Red. This bunch of remarkably hirsute and impeccably coiffed gentlemen have been playing together for 10 years and I am casting a slightly drunken eye over their latest offering, “Human Complex”.
“For fans of Tool, Deftones, Iron Maiden, Pantera and Rage Against The Machine.” This is how the band describe themselves. I disagree somewhat. But this is not a bad thing. I don’t hear too much RATM in their sound. Instead I hear quite a lot of Mastodon in some of their musical arrangements, especially in the twin guitar lines and the backing vocals. Opening track ‘Dancing With Misery’ opens with some perfectly apt miserable, minor guitar chords before opening out into the kind of melodic metal I was not expecting, which I must admit is a welcome and refreshing change from the roaring speed of much modern metal. There’s a lot to be said for melody and allowing the music you play to breathe and become an organic thing. It is a fine tune. Also, and this is another thing to LFR’s credit, there is a concept behind “Human Complex” and its songs. The record focuses on different emotions and also on how negative metal health can change your decision making ability. Now, believe it or not, but Dark Juan struggles with issues of brain chemistry and other disorders of personality (difficult to believe, I know, what with my jocularity and general sunny demeanour when defiling virgins and their mothers, daubing atheistic/ Satanic slogans on church altars, or repeatedly making Mrs. Dark Juan’s life a misery by variously ruining furniture/ underwear/ curtains or all of the above with excitement when I review a new record) and to have a band tackle the issue head on is a GREAT fucking thing and earns them some bonus points for being dudes and understanding about it all, man.
The music on offer is intriguing. It is a kind of cross between Maiden, Deftones and Mastodon and makes for a most interesting listen although in my opinion the lead vocal is too high in the mix. The guitar and bass work is very groovy indeed and has occasioned me to have a response that has caused my underpants elastic to snap and catapult them across the room to land on Hodgson The Incredible Canine Fart Machine’s head, to his chagrin and probable disgust, considering the look I’m currently getting off him. The drums are difficult to hear at times as they are buried at the back of the production and the general balance of the sound is just a bit off, which is a shame as the music is fucking well written, exciting and interesting. LC’s voice is also of interest as it is a mix of various Mastodon singers (I know I keep coming back to them but it’s true, I hear a lot of them in Left For Red) and Klaus Meine of German trad metallers Scorpions. I SOOOOOOOOOOO want to hear Left For Red cover Rock You Like A Hurricane! That would cause me to instantly suffer trouser area explosions of joy and increase my laundry bill exponentially. As far as this album and the music goes though, my favourite tracks are ‘Switchblade Romance’ with very Deftonesy, almost hip hop vibes at points, ‘The Circus’, which is a hairy fucking beast of a track going straight for your throat (it’s about the horrors of social media and how life is distorted through it) with fangs dripping venom and your imminent murder on its mind. I really like ‘Leech’ as well, which has a more muscular sound than my other favourites. ‘Leech’ makes me want to go and do animal, shocking things to attractive ladies so I hope it doesn’t come on at any clubs I’m at. That could make my evening not go quite the way I planned.
So, then, I like Left For Red. “Human Complex” is a very good album that’s going to take many listening to get the full measure of, but I have problems with the production on it, the occasional dodgy note and the fact I feel that there is a LOT more to come from LFR and this record is just a stepping stone to what they are truly capable of. If they reach their full potential, they could be a gigantic, heavily armed metal colossus with a very uncertain temper. We should all support them by buying their shit, boys and girls. This is top class British metal and I want more of it.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System is feeling all patriotic and shit and flying a union jack from the garden shed. Next to the skull and crossbones. I award Left For Red 8/10 for a damned good record that has caused distress to one of my dogs and given me underwear trauma. Fine work, gentlemen. Fine work. And I managed to get through the entire review without calling you yam yams once! Oh, wait… Fuck.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Dancing With Misery
02. Switchblade Romance
03. Slaves To Causality
04. Leech
05. The Circus
06. Hand Of God
07. The Storm
08. Journey Within
09. Tame The Tides
10. Sunrise, Bring Serenity
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/leftforreduk/

https://www.instagram.com/leftforredband/


https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLeftforred/videos
 
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of [user_login] and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

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