Metal Reviews

Agree with the pro-Cynic people on all counts. Heck I even like Aghora.

SELF-OWNED!!

Our forum has self service, please pwn your own asses.

I REALLY need to listen to Focus sometime.

You sure do, faggot! Kidding, of course. Seriously, Focus is a killer, killer album. Paul Masvidal said recently that he's been thinking about doing another Cynic album at some point. That would surely make Mr. Sweaty happy, although at this point after his mellow ambient work with Portal and Aeon Spoke I can't imagine him doing anything like Focus again. I think Focus was a moment in time, that sound and style can never be recaptured.

Of course, I'd love for him to prove me wrong.

http://www.cynicalsphere.com

a new Cynic album would be so fucking cool to see how it would turn out after all of the different projects the members have had since Focus. Especially since they pretty much all went on to do more proggy/atmospheric stuff.

Oh... a new Cynic album will be one of my dreams... the other is a Cynic tour coming to Europe...

You know, every time I listen to the album it gets better, except for the vocals and the floaty (can't think of a better word right now) sections which still suck every time I listen to them.

They're not enough to put me off though. I don't think there are any metal bands that have a stronger affinity with jazz fusion, and with the solos to go with it. Clearly the band really know their shit. I've never heard their demos, but apparently word on the street is they are better than Focus. Can anyone elaborate on that?

They're less futuristic, more thrashy.

I think the weirdest part about Focus is how it was recorded 12 years ago and still sounds ahead of its time.

Yeah, a visionary band in some respects.

Well, lucky me. I was able to listen to Focus just now on Rhapsody.

Awesome album overall. It sounds like a proggy space metal album. Like Symbolic-era Death with synthesizers, a slightly less heavy sound, robotic vocals, more jazz influences, more classical-inspired guitar bits, etc. I'll definitely buy it sometime later.

Out of curiosity, were all the clean vocals generated by a computer? Even those female vocals in the first song (Veil of Maya)? Also, were they entirely computer generated or were they simply pre-recorded human voice somehow electroded?

The vocal effect heard on Focus is achieved by a device called a vocoder. A vocoder has two inputs, carrier and modulator. That old science fiction movie robot sound is achieved by using a static, sustaining synth sound as the carrier and a human voice as a modulator.

What he said. He should have also said, "Electroded?!?! Hahahaha!"

Glad you liked the album. It's a fucking classic, yo!