Metal Band of the Week:
Cynic
August 22, 2009 by Kyle BradyTags: "Cynic", Band, Metal, Music, Review
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Cynic – a technical, death, progressive, jazz-fusion metal band – formed in 1987 and are currently on tour in Europe, but have released only two full-length albums, one in 1993 and another in 2008.
Prior to signing with major label Roadrunner Records in 1991, Cynic released four demos that make up the bulk of their catalog, but in 1993 their full-length debut, “Focus”, was released. The album is a slightly disturbing mix of death metal themes, progressive ideas, and vocals that alternate between “robotic” (via vocoder) and screams that results in an epic, futuristic, and highly original sound. The re-release of the album in 2004 by Roadrunner is a blistering 72-minute exercise in brain-clenching math metal, but somehow aurally pleasing – they arguably helped pave the way for modern technical progressive metal bands like Between the Buried and Me.
Their followup album, if being released 15 years later qualifies, is much tighter and more put-together: at its length of 34 minutes, "Traced in Air" manages to display their technical prowess, love for experimentation, and interest in other genres without becoming cliché or boring. All the best pieces of their debut album are further emphasized, ignoring what didn’t work as well, and they attempt to produce a better album as a whole – to great success. Much of the album is very rhythmically oriented with guitar and keyboard acrobatics laid overtop, bringing to mind an unholy fusion of Dream Theater, Burst, and Insomnium.
The long hiatus between records was the result of many factors: a semi-rotating lineup, natural disasters, bad timing, and participation in other bands – but their reunion was announced in early 2008, and they continue to tour together. Many of their side projects and other bands - such as Death, Gordian Knot, Portal, Master, Æon Spoke, and Aghora - have all but disbanded, or they individually left, leaving hope that a new album will be released in early 2010 as they complete their touring schedule.
With lyrics like “a million doves / orbit round the Earth with tears of blood / slay the dragon, take integral birth”, from the song “Integral Birth”, how can Cynic not be interested in continuing their odd brand of progressive metal?
Currently on tour in Europe, Cynic can be found on MySpace; their newest album, “Traced in Air” [CD] [MP3] is available on Amazon, along with their other full-length release - “Focus” [CD] [CD – Extended Edition] [MP3] [MP3 – Extended Edition].
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.
