Warthur The technical, experimental metal subgenres have come a long way since Cynic's debut album, and the band may have been dormant for well over a decade before reforming, but if Traced In Air feels like it's lagging a little bit behind the cutting edge, it's only half a step behind. Once again, as on Focus, Cynic prove themselves to be masters of blending death metal riffage and masterful technical intricacies, and even if the sort of technical death metal they, Atheist, and Death pioneered back in the day isn't quite so shocking and avant-garde any more, it's still a hell of a lot of fun to listen to.

Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Carbon Based Anatomy" gives solid, brave music, but leaves the listener wanting more.

Legendary act Cynic have been known for years thanks to their 1994 debut "Focus", a Technical Death Metal landmark album. After such a long hiatus, they returned in 2008 with their sophomore album "Traced In Air", where the previous sound was rejected completely in favor of a more Modern Progressive Rock one mixed with some Alternative Rock, like many Metal bands have done. "Carbon Based Anatomy" now is their first EP with new material since their demos from the nineties.

It seems like Cynic have no intention to go back to their original sound, continuing their experiments from "Traced In Air". This EP and the previous album as a matter of fact share many qualities: the vocals, first of all, are almost sweet sounding in their delicious cleanness; The rhythms are odd time in many points, the drums being influenced by Fusion, there are wonderful spacey soundscapes that give a dreamy touch to the whole pieces. But there is one big difference: while "Traced In Air" still had some Metal within it, "Carbon Based Anatomy" has nothing whatsoever that can be labeled that way: these twenty three minutes are a relaxing, mellow, and sometimes beautiful mixture of some Progressive, Alternative Rock melodies, and very ambitious instrumentation.

Being a six track EP, you'd expect from these guys to receive pretty much flawless entertainment all the way through, but instead, some moments feel a little too toned down, the melodies sometimes aren't quite as memorable or innovating as they were in "Traced In Air", and finally the vocals don't feel quite as powerful and emotional as previous times, even though Paul Masvidal's voice itself has a very pretty tone, as he always had for clean vocals.

The three Ambient experiments are interesting, as well as the atmospheres they create, especially for the intro of the album "Amidst The Coals". The best full length songs here seem to be the title track, with it's dragging and hypnotic sounds, and "Box Up My Bones", a step down to the mentioned piece but still very pretty and engaging in its liveliness. "Elves Beam Out" is a little forgettable in my opinion, even though it's originality is undeniable.

Overall I was left wanting more with "Carbon-Based Anatomy", but this material has no doubt gave me a great feeling for the works to come from the band, who will be releasing the full length third album soon.

UMUR "Carbon-Based Anatomy" is an EP release by US progressive rock/metal act Cynic. The EP was released through Season of Mist in November 2011. Cynic is down to a trio on this release as Tymon Kruidenier (Guitars/vocals) has left the band again after a relatively short membership. The remaining members are Sean Reinert (Drums, Keyboards), Paul Masvidal (Vocals, Guitars, Lyrics) and Sean Malone (Bass). Since the release of the band´s long awaited comeback album "Traced in Air (2008)", Cynic have released the "Re-Traced (2010" EP, which mostly featured re-arranged tracks from "Traced in Air" (and one new track), but "Carbon-Based Anatomy" is the band´s first release with all new material since 2008.

The EP features six tracks. Three tracks are "regular" songs with vocals/lyrics, while the three remaining and relatively shorter tracks are more ambient in style. All tracks seque into each other to form a 23:01 minute long concept.

The music on the EP is pretty far removed from the technical/progressive metal of the band´s first two albums. Not that those two releases don´t sound very different from each other too, but "Carbon-Based Anatomy" features very little than can be labelled metal. Instead Cynic have created an atmospheric form of progressive post-rock that will probably take some time to sink in for those who crave technical playing and fusion drumming. The EP features a beautiful, melancholic and tranquil atmosphere. The music is subtle (but still occasionally more powerful) and the vocals by Paul Masvidal are soft and mellow. There is a rare fervor about his delivery that´s greatly enjoyable. It´s a joy to follow his development as a vocalist and on this release he adds new elements to his sound. There are quite a few harmony and choir vocals on the EP, which is not something I remember having heard before to this extent.

Initially I was a bit disappointed about "Carbon-Based Anatomy" because of the lack of metal elements, but upon repeated listens the strong vocal lines, hypnotic drumming and intriguing songwriting have ended up having a captivating effect on me and I find myself returning to the EP often for a fix of the unique atmosphere and delicate delivery. This is new terrority for Cynic and while the full EP is an enjoyable listening experience, I don´t think the rest of the tracks quite reach the incredibly high standard of the title track and when I know that they can reach that high a quality, I´m spoiled enough to demand that the full EP is on the same level. We would have been talking about a 5 star masterpiece had that been the case. As it is I´d say a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is fully deserved. I might even upgrade my rating to a full 4.5 star (90%) rating in time.

Warthur Cynic's debut album is certainly an impressive achievement which proves that they had great chops both as a death metal band and as a jazz fusion band, but at the same time I don't quite think it's the all-time classic it's sometimes made out to be. Though the technical death metal sections on the album and the jazz fusion sections are great, too often that's just what they are - sections, with the band not quite going far enough in integrating both approaches; a lot of the time instead of playing both styles simultaneously in a genuine mingling of the genres, they'll play a death metal bit, then a fusion bit, then another death metal bit, and so on. Still, they're good bits.

The Angry Scotsman With this EP, Cynic continues their musical progression.

Another step from their metal roots, there's really none to be found here...and that is A OK. This is atmospheric, ambient progressive rock though there is still some heaviness, in a Cynic way and it still does sound like Cynic. Especially in the bass and drum work. As always the bass playing of Sean Malone is prominent and superb. Sean Reinert, (one of my favorite drummers) hits another home run here. His skittery, jazz infused drumming is sometimes light and spacious or pounding, but always perfect.

The guitar work of Paul Masvidal is notably different from past efforts. No longer is it heavy and at the forefront, but much lighter and soundscape style. At first I couldn't even tell there was guitar for some of it. Never taking the lead but just another instrument, another piece of the puzzle, that fits in to make the whole thing work. Lots of different sounds, not aggressive any more but atmospheric. Melody was never an issue of course with Masvidal and there is even still a solo or two to show off still!

The other huge change I noticed, also with Masvidal, is the robovox are gone! I could always put up with them, (at least enough) but I really did not like the robot vocorder type thing he did. Not sure if he never thought he could sing cleanly, didn't want to but regardless they have been dropped, and his voice is beautiful. Soaring and lovely, some I know have made fun of it for sounding "indie" (whatever that means) or for just being funny, but all a matter of opinion and I love them. A pleasant surprise from Masvidal on vocals.

The music is light, warm, textured and dense but without being pulverizing. The song structures are progressive, but not as strictly composed as many, but more drifty. Mixed in with the songs are some segues that extremely ambient and tribal sounding, topped with hauntingly beautiful female vocals. Very cool, very moving. The whole album moves perfectly, it all flows together like one large song.

The only real knock I have on this EP is that it's too short! I know, it's only and EP but still it's only 23 minutes, and the music is so moving and well done it's over before you realize it. It leaves me wanting so much more. If Cynic's next album is a longer version of this, (done just as well) it will be a masterpiece.

Great piece of music, I recommend everyone try this beautiful work of ethereal rock.

Four Stars