Traced In Air

Firstly I really like that album so sorry if I sound somewhat sicophantic!
This is the second album of Cynic coming after their recent reunion, a band generally described as progressive metal which I guess is a rather good description although it relinquishes to mention so much of the depths of this band. It would be easy to not bother checking this out thinking "Oh progressive metal, more showing off from dream theater clones" but dont let that be the case. This album is acutely musical, warm and textured. There is no showing off here!
Here is a breakdown of the tracks:

01. Nunc Fluens - This isa complex soundscape that develops rhythmically. Nicly put together and introduces alot about the ablum in a fairly brief way and takes us to the start of the album proper with aplomb.

02. The Space for This - Starting with a soft guitar part this quickly develops into an exciting piece of music. The musicianship is excellent and the use of varied textures marked here with the regular return of the guitar part.

03. Evolutionary Sleeper - This is for me the standout track. I absolutly love the complexity of the guitar and rhythm section put against the tend and beautiful melody of the evolutionary sleeper. The solo is inspired, this really showcases the bands ability to move from energetic to delecate.

04. Integral Birth - This has a deffinate lilt of the classical composition around it. Which is interesting because the lyrical ideas are deffinately very philisophical in their inception. The hand over to the next song is very striking here with Integral Birth fading and as the volume rises from this fall the next track ensues.

05. The Unknown Guest - Another cleverly textured and contrasting track. Interesting lyrical content, not all of it english! (although I am not sure which language it is)

06. Adam's Murmur - I really like the drumming here, subtle and well articulated. This is a very well fashioned song mixing elements of many genres, from complex polyrhythms of jazz and harmonic movement of classical music with of course element of metal.

07. King of Those Who Know - This is the longest track on the album. This starts with a very contrasting section, a guitar and what seems to be female voices. This swiftly moves into a clever interplay between the harsh growly vocals and the soft sound of Masvidals vocals. This is one of the best songs on the album, it really draws you along with it and moves on to a far more jazzy and keyboard influanced ending. Excellent music IMHO.

08. Nunc Stans - The last track of the album and is a seemingly bleak look at the nature of existance (vacuous rockers they aint!) A really good end to this album. Very much reflective.

Many people have raised the point that this album only lasts around 35 minutes. This is indeed not long for an album but considering the quality of the music and the complexity, depth and production values I think this album can still be considered excellent. I hope to see more albums from this versitile and original band.

Just wanted to quickly review this album giving it 5 stars. It's a perfect album and I wish they released more music, so if you're reading this Cynic, get on with it, because your skils won't last forever but masterpieces like this are timeless!

Every track on this album is a classic as a stand alone track and as part of the flow of a great record. The soft and interesting chord progressions and chord orientated riffs paired with the soothing effect-enhanced vocals make this a relaxing and dreamlike listen that never gets old. Although Cynic are grouped in with death metal bands it is difficult to see what would put this album in that category. I would recommend it for fans of technical music (which includes a lot of death metal fans) rather than fans of heavy music (this album is not heavy). Or anyone looking for something to space out to. The melodies have a melancholy edge that never goes too far giving the album an emotional depth that is not overbearing or patronising to the listener but sets it aside from a lot of other technical music that can lack this dimension.