Cynic
Re-Traced

THE REVIEW

What a drag, what a bore, what a drag, what a bore!!!

The legendary mantra with which Mondaini ended the episodes of Casa Vianello (RIP Raimondo) would be enough to describe this new EP by Cynic. We had realized that Paul Masvidal’s tastes were far from entrenched in Death Metal by listening to "Traced In Air," a good progressive metal album but nothing more (certainly, still better than the rubbish Pestilence came up with!!). Let's be clear, Paul can listen to and play whatever he likes and doesn't have to answer to anyone, but what's the point of reforming a band that's more than legendary in the Death Metal scene (and beyond) to first make a simple progressive metal album with some similar-growl vocals here and there to appease the old fans, and then present an EP two years later that includes 4 tracks from the aforementioned "Traced In Air" plus an unreleased track rearranged in a minimal/trip hop/something style?? 

The 4 remade tracks are Space, King, Evolutionary, and Integral, which, if in their original version, are good progressive metal pieces, in this new guise turn out to be 4 really good sleeping pills, with Masvidal’s chanting voice and gentle background soundscapes. 

The unreleased Wheels Within Wheels, which theoretically should draw more attention, actually proves to be perfectly on par with the aforementioned material, turning out to be what it was initially, a leftover from the "Traced In Air" sessions.

To wrap it up and keep it brief, if you suffer from insomnia but counting sheep doesn’t help you fall into Morpheus' arms, try this EP, you'll see that not even cannon blasts will wake you up afterward!!