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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible Follow-Up to One of the Most Underrated and Influential Metal Albums Ever, November 25, 2008
Cynic's "Focus" was an under-the-radar cult phenomenon that changed the shape of modern metal. Nobody had ever produced a CD that sounded even remotely like it before, and truly no one has since. Technical and Progressive Metals have grown and matured and played off of ideas expressed on that disc for over a decade, but not a single band (even Dream Theater, Spiral Architect, Canvas Solaris, Symphony X, Redemption, Aghora, Zero Hour, Blotted Science, etc) has ever equalled the musicianship and pure strangitude that was Cynic. They are not the only fathers of this genre, but they are more relevant than many are aware. That these musicians are together again after 15 years is awesome.
Ok, this is not Focus. If you thought it was going to be, you should have paid more attention to the words on the cover.
This is Traced in Air. And it is amazing. It is multilayered, beautifully produced and shockingly arranged. On my first listens I wasn't sure what to make of it, but that was equally true with Focus. As I hear it more, I am strongly feeling that it will actually eclipse its predecessor in my appreciation. Where Focus expanded on traditional songwriting structures with unheard of melodic layers and exotic effects, Traced in Air completely obliterates those structures from the very start. Here is the simple fact, from one who makes his living selling music, specializing in progressive rock and metal: I've heard most of what is out there, and there is nothing else like this.
Does that mean you'll like it? I don't know. It requires patience. It requires an open mind. It helps to have a metaphysical bone or two already. You probably won't move much the first time you hear it. Masvidal does not care what you think of it. He does not care if you want a 70 minute disc to get out your ya yas. He doesn't even adhere to the standard dogmas of Tech Metal that his own work helped to create. This is not about time signatures or note values. It is an epic wave of sound. Traced in Air is just over 30 minutes, and it is another piece of Cynic's journey. Tag along if you dare. It is an amazing work of art.
I love it, and I think I'm going to go listen to it again now.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Already been said, November 26, 2008
This is an amazing album and is for anyone who appreciates complex, melodic music. It is not "Focus 2," so if that's what you're expecting, forget it. This album sounds like a band who has taken 15 years to mature as musicians and song writers and aren't concerned about sounding metal for the sake of it. This album is a 34 minute auditory epic journey and I love it every step of the way.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cynic is still Cynic..., January 14, 2009
After reading some of the reviews of this album across the Internet, you might get the idea that Cynic have turned into some kind of emo collective vice a band that ever had anything to do with metal. That's certainly the impression that I had before the album finally arrived at my door. I was actually sort of reluctant to listen to it for the first time in fear of how utterly awful it would be. However, after having actually listened, I can only assume that such sentiments were sourced from extreme skepticism and/or pessimism towards the band's ability (or inability) to faithfully follow up on their moderately overstated debut, as opposed to any kind of objective reality. I mean, While it isn't really a note for note reiteration of Focus, Traced in Air sounds like - for better or worse - exactly what I would have expected a second Cynic album to sound like.
On one hand, you have just about everything in this album that solidified Cynic as a "unique" metal band back in 1993. The robotic vocals, unorthodox compositions, strange guitar solos, melodic bass presence, organic drumming, overly spiritual lyricism, excruciatingly detailed cover art, and so forth. Even the running time is about as pathetically short as that of their first album, Focus. The simple catch is that the degrees of emphasis that the band has placed on these elements have changed somewhat. Primarily, the guitars are focused on melody over riffing, and the vocals are now almost entirely sung in that clean, processed voice - the rasps are still there, but they sort of just meld into the music and fade away to the point of being barely noticeable. The production is modern and clean, which as far as I'm concerned can only benefit a band when the musical focus is atmosphere and technical intricacy.
On the other hand, if you were never really partial to the idea that Cynic were a metal band to begin with, this album will do nothing whatsoever to convince you otherwise. On the contrary, it will probably just prove your point for you and nail the coffin shut. Purists might as well not even bother, because if anything, Traced in Air is some kind of avant-prog rock album with metal influences - and honestly, anybody who was surprised by this development has likely not heard a single thing that the original Cynic members have done over the last 15 years (i.e. Portal, Aeon Spoke, Gordian Knot, solo albums, guest appearances, interviews, et al). The writing has been on the wall for a long time.
All of that said, it's a little hard to make a final determination as to which album is actually "better". Focus has several things going for it - for one, it has the advantage of being truly unique. Before Focus, nobody (as far as I know) was making music like that. After Focus, enough copycat and tribute bands spawned to turn a thing of relative obscurity into a popular commodity, relatively speaking. As a result, Traced in Air isn't really as impactful today as Focus was yesterday. Although, thankfully, when you're the one that started something and set the bar as high as Cynic did, you can still usually do it better than all the people who have since copied you, which Cynic have done - so I'll give them credit for taking a worn out sound and infusing it with life. Second, there is a significant difference in terms of musical divergence. On Focus, Cynic's music was split between the metallic, the limber and organic, and the spiritual. No greater examples exist for me than the songs Uroboric Forms, Textures, and Sentiment, respectively. These songs were, and still are, monolithic and peerless. Traced in Air doesn't have anything like those songs. There's nothing on the album that mimics the power and drive of Uroboric Forms; nothing that brings to mind the supreme intricacies of Textures; and nothing that presents the absolute grandeur of Sentiment. There are no extremities on Traced in Air. There is nothing that made me say "Holy crap!" the way that Focus did. Instead, Cynic seems to have found some kind of happy middle ground where all musical elements are content to simply intertwine and sit... and sit... and sit... until the final moments of the album fade away. Lastly, for whatever reason, the bass is nowhere near as prominent on Traced in Air as it was on Focus - this can only be a bad thing, as Sean Malone has an uncanny ear for melody and rhythm and listening to his interactions with drummer Sean Reinert has always been a highlight for me on any recording where they play together.
What does Traced in Air have going for it? Primarily nostalgia, I guess. Massive amounts of long-time fans are probably so elated at the very existence of a second Cynic album that any obvious shortcomings end up swept under the rug. The cleaner production also makes Sean Reinert's drums sound that much more impactful and his cymbals that much livelier, which is awesome, because I've been an unwavering Sean Reinert fanboy ever since I first heard the song Textures. Traced in Air also has the advantage of surpassing just about every other band that has tried the amalgamation of technical metal and jazz-like freestyle adventurism in Cynic's absence.
In the end, I can't say that I was surprised by much of anything on this album. I've long had a vision of what a second Cynic album would sound like - molded by my own desires and by the sounds of various member side projects - and Traced in Air is pretty much it. It's Cynic, man - without a doubt. It isn't as glorious as past efforts, but it's Cynic. Traced in Air is a natural progression, and it should have been obvious to anybody that's capable of reading between the lines.
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