Lineup:
Its been 15 years since Cynic gave us one of the most Progressive Metal Albums of all time with their masterpiece debut 1993's Focus, and the new release has finally answered the prayers of the dedicated fans. But is the album really that good or is it just the hype surrounding the release? Well, its great to say, Yes! Infact the album is a lot better than it was perceived to be.- Paul Masvidal
- Tymon Kruidenier
- Sean Malone
- Sean Reinert
- Nunc Fluens
- The Space For This
- Evolutionary Sleeper
- Integral Birth
- The Unknown Guest
- Adam's Murmur
- King of those Who Know
- Nunc Stans
Paul Masvidal is a certified genius composer, musician & guitarist whose talents can only be matched with the time keeping qualities of Drum God Sean Reinert.
The music here is absolute top class. Not as heavy as the first album, but then it doesnt even require to be. There are great Riffs all around, mostly played clean & the jazz influences really show here. Paul also mostly sings clean & the growly parts are only in bits sprinkled in tracks like King of those Who Know, Integral Birth and The Space For This.
Original Guitarist Jason Gobel couldnt join the band as he had family issues to deal with, but they have found an excellent replacement in Tymon Kruidenier, the Dutch virtuoso who also plays with another band featuring members of Textures, responsible for the death metal growls here.
Most progressive bands these days release albums with very lengthy songs & often the album length exceeds 60 minutes. Cynic's album thankfully clocks just over 30 mins but the listener is somehow compelled to repeat all the tracks on loop mode.
The eerie vocals are done using a vocoder which takes the vocal inputs and converts the signals electronically, like using a voice modulator.
The musical arrangements are lush, the production clear as crystal. Lyrically Paul dwelves into matters like the one ness of the universe and being reborn through integral birth.
Since the album is short in length, every song here is brilliant, though i love Evolutionary Sleeper and The Unknown Guest.This is not simple music. its pretty complex with so many guitar n drum passages, riffs & totally off beat rhythm sections. Seeing them play live (wacken open air 2007) is believing, that magic created in studio can also be recreated Live in front of thousands of people. Good to see Sean Malone return as he was not able to play with them on their live shows before the release of this album due to his commitments with several other bands.
This music is totally recommended for people who want a change from the average and tired of the ordinary. Highly recommended for fans of Jazz, Death metal, Technical Metal and for those who truley love music. If u want soul in your music look no further.
Cynic have arrived...again
My Rating
10/10
