- Focus (album)
Infobox Album
Name = Focus
Type = Studio album
Artist = Cynic
Released =September 14 ,1993
Recorded = 1993
Genre =Technical death metal Progressive metal Jazz fusion
Length = 36:14
72:29 (Remaster)
Label = Roadrunner
Producer = Scott Burns
Cynic
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wnfpxq8gldke link]
Last album =
This album = "Focus"
(1993)
Next album = "Traced in Air "
(2008)"Focus" was released on September 14, 1993 originally as the only
studio album by the American metal band Cynic. They have since reformed in 2007 and are due to release the follow-up to their debut on October 27, 2008.Overview and musical approach
After years of being hailed as promising in
Florida 'sdeath metal scene, Cynic recorded "Focus". The result was an album combining their love of death metal with other influences, notablyjazz-fusion . Instead of choosing the brutal and hard-hitting approach to metal like most of their contemporaries, "Focus" takes an experimental stance to music.Although being often dubbed
progressive metal , the musical approach on "Focus" has arguably even more in common withjazz than it has with the progressive metal orprogressive rock movements, leading some to coin the term "jazz metal " to describe the music. Elements of both can be found: progressive rock/metal is reflected in some song structures and occasional odd-time meters, while jazz influences are evident in some harmonic and rhythmic phenomena. The songs alternate between harsh death metal parts and more serene, smoother passages. In general, the parts flow smoothly into each other instead of making abrupt, sudden transitions. In addition to being rather complex rhythmically, the songs also feature an advanced approach toharmony , as far asheavy metal music is considered. The vocal melodies are mostly simple and linear, leaving a lot of melodic space for the guitars and even bass instead.The most distinct feature on the album is the use of two types of main vocals, almost equally prominent. In a traditional death metal vein, the album features a hoarse, guttural, growling voice -
death grunt s - courtesy of guestingsinger Tony Teegarden . Lead singerPaul Masvidal was in danger of losing his voice at the time and thus did not perform the growling vocals himself.The other main type of vocal output is Masvidal singing through avocoder -type effect, resulting in a synthesized voice with a robotic quality.Individual players
Guitarist/vocalist
Paul Masvidal and drummerSean Reinert had joinedChuck Schuldiner 's Death to record the seminal "Human". Certain similarities can be heard between the two albums, although "Focus" only rarely reaches the level of aggression found on "Human".The guitar parts of Masvidal and
Jason Gobel intertwine, bringing to mind such guitar duos as Television'sTom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, orRobert Fripp andAdrian Belew fromKing Crimson . Only rarely do both guitars play the same part simultaneously; most of the time both guitars have their distinct own parts that tie together to form a fabric of harmonies and melodies, in addition to numerousguitar solo s. Masvidal's flowing,Allan Holdsworth -esque solos stand out with their free phrasing.Masvidal and Gobel use very similar gear throughout the record. Both play a
Steinberger brandelectric guitar equipped with a RolandMIDI pickup and guitarsynthesizer , and both usedADA amplification . Most of the synthesized sounds on the album are generated with these guitar synthesizers, not keyboards. The Steinberger guitars also feature a tremolo system which bends each string an equal amount, allowing the bending of full chord shapes in tune. A demonstration of this is heard in the very first guitar chord of "I'm But A Wave To...".Sean Malone plays aKubicki fretless bass nearly throughout the album. The fretless bass has a soft attack and a round, warm sound rather atypical to heavy metal, which usually prefers the punchier attack of fretted bass. This easily draws more comparisons to Death and the aforementioned "Human" album, which also featured fretless electric bass, played bySteve DiGiorgio . On some parts on "Focus" Malone plays a 12-stringChapman stick instead.Malone's bass lines do not generally follow either guitar part. His lines are often quite busy and create a throbbing rhythmical pulse that syncopates with Reinert's drumwork. He also delivers a rare bass solo on the instrumental track "Textures".Sean Reinert 's drum style meshes together elements from both heavy metal and jazz. He skillfully uses accents, fills and varied dynamics to keep the songs rhythmically vivid. He occasionally plays a 16th-note double bass drum beat to emphasize certain parts of songs, but does not playblast beat on the album. In addition to an acousticdrum kit , he also useselectronic drum s on some songs. The introduction to "Sentiment" demonstrates Reinert playing a polymetric beat consisting of several different meters on top of each other.Lyrical approach
The
lyrics , written by Masvidal, are poetic, philosophically and spiritually laden texts that take on subjects such as perceiving the world as whole, distinguishing reality and illusion, concentration andmeditation . Many of the songs incorporate themes, titles or excerpts from other works: "Veil of Maya" takes its title from aRalph Waldo Emerson poem of the same name, while "Sentiment" quotes a prayer from "Whispers to Eternity " byParamahansa Yogananda . Lots of influences from oriental mysticism and religions as well as someNew Age themes are present. The whole lyrical perspective is positive, humane and humble, all rather atypical qualities in heavy metal texts.Influences
Atheist and Watchtower had previously fused death metal with jazz. Cynic itself has had a notable influence on some later groups. Echoes of Cynic's approach can be heard in the music of many later
death metal groups such as Pestilence (especially their 1993 swansong "Spheres"), Martyr,Aletheian ,Cryptopsy ,Behold... the Arctopus and evenMeshuggah , as well as someprogressive metal groups such asSpiral Architect , Sceptic, andContinuo Renacer .Track listing
# "Veil of Maya" – 5:23
# "Celestial Voyage" – 3:40
# "The Eagle Nature" – 3:30
# "Sentiment" – 4:23
# "I'm But a Wave to..." – 5:30
# "Uroboric Forms" – 3:32
# "Textures" – 4:42
# "How Could I" – 5:29Remaster
In 2004
Roadrunner Records released a remastered version of "Focus", which contained the original eight tracks and six bonus tracks. Three of these were remixed versions of "Focus" songs, while the three other songs are taken from the members' post-Cynic project Portal's eponymous demo. Portal featured almost the same lineup as Cynic. Sean Malone was replaced byChris Kringel and a fifth member,Aruna Abrams , joined on vocals and keyboards. All Cynic songs were written by Cynic; all Portal songs were written by Portal. The remixed tracks feature the same lineup as the original release.* All
music written by Cynic, alllyrics byPaul Masvidal .# "Veil of Maya" – 5:21
# "Celestial Voyage" – 3:37
# "The Eagle Nature" – 3:28
# "Sentiment" – 4:24
# "I'm But a Wave To..." – 5:28
# "Uroboric Forms" – 3:30
# "Textures" – 4:40
# "How Could I" – 5:28
# "Veil of Maya (2004 Remix)" – 5:22
# "I'm But a Wave To... (2004 Remix)" – 5:21
# "How Could I (2004 Remix)" – 6:20
# Portal: "Cosmos" – 4:21
# Portal: "The Circle's Gone" – 5:20
# Portal: "Endless Endeavors" – 9:56* Total Length: 72:29
Credits
*
Tony Teegarden −death grunts
*Paul Masvidal − guitar, guitarsynthesizer , vocals
*Sean Reinert − drums, percussion, keyboards
*Jason Gobel − guitar, guitar synthesizer
*Sean Malone − bass,Chapman stick (Cynic tracks only)References
External links
* [http://www.cynicalsphere.com/ The Cynical Sphere] (all things Cynic-related)
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