Cynic – Traced
In Air
(Season of Mist,
2008)
Buy the album here
I
can’t remember first noticing Cynic or even hearing them for the first time,
but with Traced In Air I have reason
to never forget them. Existing somewhere
in the space formed by an equilateral triangle between Tool, Mars Volta, and
Gorguts, Cynic are sensually lush, at times complex, and powerfully
melodic. Traced In Air is equally effective patiently building sparse
soundscapes or dynamically layering instrumentation in self-propelled,
existential, proto-death prog. It’s an
album that completely changed my understanding of heavy music, the place of
death metal style vocals in other settings, and the conceptual limits of lyrics
in heavy music.
“The
Unknown Guest” is a perfect example. Rolling
in on the faded-in, reborn rhythms of “Integral Birth”, laced with Sanskrit
mantras, backed by vicious death growls, and bearing beautiful, transitional
passages of delicate light in amongst the tightly packed riffing and fill-heavy
drumlines of the verses, “The Unknown Guest” takes us on an exploration of how spiritual
discovery can reinvigorate physical life.
“Adam’s Murmur” introduces yet more stylistic experimentation with near
robotic vocals that contrast the chakras-inspired contemplation of man’s
creation. It’s a bold decision to
express these ideas in such “synthetic” ways, but the delicacy of the delivery
along with the balancing earthiness of the backing vocal allows the song to hit
its mark. “King of Those Who Know” also
balances these synthetic sounds with clean guitar tones and death growls to produce
an equally vicious and soothing take on spiritual awareness. Stretches of layered vocals, rolling double
bass drumming, and skilfully picked riffs pack the idea-filled verses and
choruses to the brim in order that the near-empty bridge sections and lulls are
near-necessitated moments of quiet contemplation. The thoughts inspired by this music come
thick and fast but Cynic also want to provide you with the space and time to
consider how you’ve received them and how you might turn them back out in to
the world.
Discussing
individual tracks is difficult though as the enduring image of this record is
of a musically and thematically unified concept of human existence deftly and
confidently scrawled, like the light reaching from star to star in a night sky. Much like Blast
Tyrant from last week’s post, this is music that will have your head in the
clouds, feeling weightless, carried away, and disappointed to have to come back
down. The light musical touch combined
with the intellectual weight of centuries old philosophical thought creates a
welcoming yet challenging expression of humanity’s place in the cosmos. It simultaneously makes humanity seem
insignificant in the scope of the universe yet intensely meaningful and
unique. Songs like “Adam’s Murmur” and
“Evolutionary Sleeper” put contemporary humanity on a gigantic spectrum of evolutionary
science while also acknowledging the philosophical and existential impact of
spirituality and religious beliefs in our creation. In delivering this balanced message, Cynic
explore the full extent of their skills as musicians. Each song is crafted from a diverse palette
where little seems off limits. Vocal
distortion is frequently used alongside noteworthy guitar pedal combinations to
create incredible audio effects that somehow feel organic and electronic at the
same time, like the firing of synapses.
Paul Masvidal and Tymon Kruidenier trade clean vocals and death growls,
and Amy Correia provides moments of gentle, background melody, while the
guitars skilfully switch from delicate untouched tones to distorted metal
brutality. The rhythm duo of Sean
Reinert and Sean Malone pack a lot of work in to short passages, providing
attention-grabbing rumbling foundations, while also delicately accenting the
quieter moments.
Two
of these quieter moments bookend the entire album. “Nunc Fluens” and “Nunc Stans” are two
interpretations of existence and the “eternal”: the former is the flow of time
and there being no beginning or end, the latter understands that all things are
now and that there is no past or future.
While Cynic may have intended something greater or more specifically
spiritual with this structure, for me Traced
In Air is a beautiful reminder of how we should listen to and experience
music. Much like the yoga that seems to
have inspired “The Space for This”, the record is about channelling our focus, filtering
out distractions, and giving our all to what we are experiencing now. By giving ourselves completely to the moment,
to the music, to the experience, we are closer to ourselves, more open to other
possibilities, and ready to accept ideas that challenge our beliefs. Heavy metal might not seem like the most
likely place for this line of thought, but in embracing spirituality, science,
simplicity, complexity, melody, and brutality Cynic have crafted an album that
is all things at once, while somehow more focused than most other music. Traced
In Air teaches us that music can surprise, usurp established norms, and
live on in how we approach and understand our existence.
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