eMusic

Start Your Trial

Traced In Air

by

Cynic

 
Traced In Air
view larger image View Larger

Rate it!

Avg: 4.0 (73 ratings)

Death metal sharpens its focus and turns into "life metal"

  • We Say...

    Focus, Cynic's 1993 debut, was rough-hewn yet visionary. Its blend of death metal and jazz fusion inspired countless bands — Between the Buried and Me, The Faceless and Intronaut, to name a few. Afterwards, the band split up. Guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert played atmospheric rock in Aeon Spoke, bassist Sean Malone explored prog metal and guitarist Jason Gobel eventually retired from the music industry. In 2007, Cynic reunited to satisfy rabid fan demand.

    The band has not faltered under scrutiny. Unlike Focus, which was exploratory but unfocused, Traced in Air is self-contained and self-assured. The production flaws of the debut are gone; the sound is smooth and sleek. Even the distortion is precise and pristine, like an edgier King Crimson. As on Focus, Masvidal's vocals are heavily processed. This time, Auto-Tune seems to trump vocoder as the tech toy of choice. Reinert's percussion is characteristically crisp and colorful. The compact songs and coruscating, clean tones show a strong Aeon Spoke influence. This record consummates Focus' leanings towards melody and harmony. Masvidal's lyrics likewise continue Focus' spiritual themes. The sum total is sweetly frictionless. What began as traditional death metal is now something perhaps best called "life metal."

  • You Say...

    Write a Review

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Cynic

    Album: Traced In Air

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.