Description

Rare private pressing. Digipak

Ladies and Gentlemen’s, welcome to a new breed of Prog, with tendencies to pomp rock and more than a hint of power rock, gothic theatricals, spoken word and operatic themes. Braindance are a one of a kind act that mixes electronic/goth landscapes with progressive metal elements, which equals out to an experience that I cannot even completely describe. If you’re looking for a mix of deep croons (ala Type O Negative) electronics and guitars, then you’ve hit the jackpot with Master Of Disguise. It’s the first release from the New York act in nearly twelve years, but they sound surprisingly fresh and crisp on the release with an unparalleled (and I do mean unparalleled) vocal performance by frontman Sebastian Elliot. If the musical element of the act wasn’t already good enough, Elliot’s vocal performance is truly the icing on the cake. When he tackles the mic, you’ll be sure to know it and there’s no one out there quite like him on the market. In addition to the main tracks, there are also several well-crafted instrumental sections in which a slew of voice clips are mixed and matched in a way that sounds naturally professional and truly intriguing. This isn’t an amateur attempt at pasting together various samples; rather it’s a compilation of painstakingly hard work that seems fully realized on the record. These aren’t pieces that you will just skip through either, which is definitely a testament to their quality. Some clips are also featured on the main songs as well, but they don’t take away from the performance which is strikingly odd. Normally you might think that these clips would muddle things, but here that just doesn’t seem to be the case. Vora Vor is mostly to thank for the majority of musical awesomeness that you hear on the album, as she plays the guitar in addition to the keyboard work and even lets loose on some grand solo efforts. Tony Geballe also provides a dose of guitar when needed which results in a collaboration of melody that certainly helps to pack muscle onto many of these tracks. It’s very difficult to sum up such a lengthy record as Master Of Disguise (which nearly runs at a full eighty minutes) but suffice it to say that you won’t regret purchasing this record if you’re looking for a truly memorable gothic experience. I’m not sure what exactly happened during the band’s twelve year absence, but if they’ve got more material just around the corner than I am more than willing to listen to it. I think a great deal of bands could take a lesson from these guys, who’ve been doing it since 1992.

Track list:
1. Unearthed
2. Lost
3. Eye Of The Storm
4. The Game
5. Hunter And Hunted
6. Dysphoria
7. Master Of Disguise
8. More Than A Moment (The Sands Part III)
9. The Silence
10. Dystopia
11. Written In Stone
12. Valley Of The Kings, Chapter I: Beyond
13. Valley Of The Kings, Chapter Ii: Falling
14. Valley Of The Kings, Chapter Iii: Closer To The Sun
15. Entombed