80%
view 
Members
3 Male
Origin
Los Angeles, USA
Genre
Progressive Metal
Style
Metal
Mood
---
Born
3 MaleOrigin
Los Angeles, USAGenre
Progressive MetalStyle
MetalMood
---
Born
1987
Active
1987 to Present...
Cutout
Most Loved Tracks4 users
Cynic - The Space for This4 users
Cynic - Evolutionary Sleeper4 users
Cynic - Integral Birth4 users
Cynic - Veil of Maya4 users
Cynic - Nunc fluens
Music Video LinksArtist Biography
Available in:
Cynic is an American progressive rock band—incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements—founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of the progressive metal genre. Cynic disbanded in 1994, but reunited in 2006, and released their second album on November 17, 2008. Traced in Air was released through French label Season of Mist, followed up by an EP titled Re-Traced on May 18, 2010.
Cynic's first recordings feature a more punk, thrash and hardcore sound, but in the 1990s their sound changed towards a highly complex, experimental and extremely technical form of progressive metal, while still retaining their death metal roots. Many influences from jazz and jazz-rock fusion can be heard on their debut album Focus. Focus has both "growls" and "robotic" vocals, using a vocoder. The offshoot Portal later released a demo recording that continues even further in the direction of progressive space rock, refining and softening up their sound.
Cynic's 2008 album Traced in Air melded together the styles and influences heard on 1993's Focus with the more progressive-oriented Portal approach. The result had Cynic put less emphasis on its extreme metal elements, with new guttural vocalist Tymon Kruidenier playing a smaller role than Tony Teegarden did on Focus. Additionally, Paul Masvidal all but abandoned his vocoder robotic vocals, opting instead for a more natural singing voice, with a subtle vocoder layer.
Noting the journey from metal to the progressives, The New York Times proclaimed in a positive review of Traced in Air that "Cynic should be understood not so much alongside any metal bands but along with the radical harmonic progressives in the last 45 years of pop and jazz: composers like Milton Nascimento, The Beach Boys or Pat Metheny."
Wide Thumb
Clearart
Fanart
Banner
User Comments
No comments yet..
Unlocked
