Cynic: Demo 1990 (1990)

It was only natural that bands would incorporate other influences into their music, even in death metal.  One of the most creative of the early bands was Cynic, who began fusing jazz and progressive elements into their brand of death metal.  Their album Focus is one of the early masterpieces transitioning death metal into something more mature and sophisticated.  That was their debut album, released in 1993.

This is one of Cynic's early demos and it bares very little resemblance to the Cynic that recorded Focus.  None of the three songs here appear on the debut album and they are a much more straightforward thrash/death metal style.  None of the jazz fusion elements are present, though there is some technicality to the riffing.  Also missing are the robotic vocals that appeared on the debut, which were mostly present due to problems with the singer's voice leading up to the recording of the album. 

Ultimately, this is likely not going to appeal to people who are big fans of Cynic's sound right now.  The demo is more interesting as a historical artifact to hear the progression of the band.  The songs are very impressive, but not what one would expect when picking up a Cynic release.

Year in Metal: 2008

Link to my larger post.

My Top 10 that year was as follows:
10. Nocturnal Fear: Code of Violence
9. Holy Moses: Agony of Death
8. Septicflesh: Communion
7. The Gates of Slumber: Conqueror
6. Hail of Bullets: ...Of Frost and War
5. Lair of the Minotaur: War Metal Battle Master
4. Toxic Holocaust: An Overdose of Death
3. Mictlantecuhtli: Warriors of the Black Sun
2. Eluveitie: Slania
1. Grand Magus: Iron Will

So, let's talk about some different albums then.

CYNIC: TRACED IN AIR
Cynic came back after 12 years on hiatus. The band would have been an excellent example of a band for my One and Done series had they not decided to reunite, but they did and this album was released to a ton of hype in 2008. It was worth the wait. While abandoning their death and thrash metal roots, Cynic still managed to put out a great album with this effort. The music is actually surprisingly mellow, so much so that my fiancee really liked this release.

IHSAHN: ANGL
The great Emperor frontman released his second solo album in 2008 and built upon the ideas from the first solo release. What resulted was a fine progressive metal album with some black metal influences. He is a fantastic multi-instrumentalist and a gifted songwriter. Of course we already knew all this from his days with Emperor. This album simply emphasizes his gifts.

METALLICA: DEATH MAGNETIC
Possibly the comeback album of the year, with only Cynic as any real competition. This is unarguably the venerable band's best release since The Black Album. I actually kind of prefer it to that one. Songs like "All Nightmare Long" definitely call to mind some of the material from that classic mainstream metal album. Metallica still has a distressing tendency to write overly long songs, but the songs are still enjoyable.

NACHTMYSTIUM: ASSASSINS: BLACK MEDDLE PT. 1
Nachtmystium is one of the more well-known black metal bands from the United States, but this album goes in much more of an experimental and almost psychedelic direction. The title is a reference to Pink Floyd and that band's musical influence can be clearly heard on this release. The band is at its best when they combine their rawer black metal influences with the Pink Floyd-isms.

PHARAOH: BE GONE
A vastly underrated American power metal band, Pharaoh is much more similar to groups like Twisted Tower Dire than to Blind Guardian. It is American power metal, not overly melodic frilly European power metal. Metal that actually has power. Pharaoh crafted a fine album with this release. It's melodic, but not overly so, catchy and it has balls. I am looking forward to the next one.

Since I did a full write-up earlier for this year and subsequent years, I will not do the Honorable Mentions or Bands that Formed. Most newly formed bands from these years have not made much of an impact at this time anyway, with some exceptions.

Year in Metal: 1993

CARCASS: HEARTWORK
Carcass is revered for being a pioneer in the grindcore genre. However, in their later years the band put out one of the all-time great death metal albums, Necroticism-Descanting the Insalubrious. Still later though, Carcass had a major hand in the formation of melodeath with this amazing album. Featuring cover art from H.R. Giger and some absolutely sick riffs and melodies, this is a great album without which we would not have had melodeath. At least the good stuff anyway.

CYNIC: FOCUS
Along with Atheist, Cynic is responsible for bringing jazz and fusion influences into death metal. Sounds like something doomed to failure, but it surprisingly works quite well. The songs often run the gamut between death metal and more ethereal, serene soundscapes. The vocoder vocals can be a little irritating at times, but it's nothing to stop listening for. Cynic did not release much after this, going on hiatus until just recently releasing their second full-length album.

IMMORTAL: PURE HOLOCAUST
One of the more well-known bands in the Norwegian black metal scene, Immortal is also probably my favorite of the groups. Immortal knows their sound and largely sticks to it, and their sound is chaotic and unholy thrash riffs played with ungodly speed and shrieking vocals. Immortal has created their own world on this album. They may be a little cheesy-looking in pictures and videos, but there is nothing cheesy about this music. Excellent black metal.

MORBID ANGEL: COVENANT
The first time I have ever heard of Morbid Angel was when the video for "God of Emptiness" was on Beavis and Butthead. I thought to myself that I had to get that album. The music was so evil and unlike anything I had ever heard to that point. Well, I was not able to find the album until I really started looking within the last few years. Now, this is one of my favorite death metal albums ever. Terrific death metal that other bands have been trying to copy for years.

PARADISE LOST: ICON
You won't see a lot of gothic metal in these lists, but there will be some. Paradise Lost is probably my favorite such group next to Type O Negative. The English band helped usher in the death/doom genre with Cathedral, My Dying Bride, and Anathema, but they became more of a gothic metal band over time. This album represents the crossroads between the two sounds and the doom elements and gothic elements blend perfectly into a beautiful, but still aggressive album.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Anthrax: Sound of White Noise, Atheist: Elements, Crowbar: Crowbar, Darkthrone: Under a Funeral Moon, Death: Individual Thought Patterns, Entombed: Wolverine Blues, Fight: War of Words, My Dying Bride: Turn Loose the Swans, Overkill: I Hear Black, Satyricon: Dark Medieval Times, Sepultura: Chaos A.D., Type O Negative: Bloody Kisses.

BANDS THAT FORMED IN 1993: Children of Bodom, Dark Funeral, Diabolical Masquerade, Dimmu Borgir, Electric Wizard, Hammerfall, Melechesh, Nile, Symphony X.

Metal Reunions

Technical death metal is taking off lately, so a lot of the original tech-death groups are reuniting. This is great news because a lot of these bands had somewhat shorter careers and went out far too soon. I'm excited to see new albums from these bands and maybe see one or two on tour if possible. So, let's look at some of these bands, their history, and their future.

CYNIC

Cynic was one of the original technical death metal bands. They added some odd jazz fusion elements to their Florida death metal. The demos were more straightforward death, it was not until the album Focus that things got really interesting. That album is a standout in early death metal for its varied influences. The clean vocals were handled through the use of a vocoder, giving it a futuristic, robotic sound. There were of course death metal growls as well. The major standout was the musicianship of the band. These were amazing musicians, not at all stereotypical of death metal bands. Unfortunately they split up soon after.

I picked up Traced in Air, Cynic's reunion album last holiday season. A lot of the death metal elements are gone now, but the musicianship is still strong. Cynic has matured into an amazing progressive metal band now. They are on tour currently with Daath and Dragonforce, but they will be playing in Omaha on a weeknight, not the best time for me to go with work. Too bad.

ATHEIST

Even more jazz-influenced and more death metal-sounding than Cynic. Atheist was the more successful band in that they did produce more than one full length in the first part of their career and were better accepted at the time. Atheist recorded three great full length albums in the early 1990's. They then dissolved.

Atheist reunited recently and while there has not been a new album yet, they are said to be working on it.

HEATHEN

Heathen is a little thrashier than the previous two. I am not as familiar with them, having only heard a few of their songs. I have their two full lengths downloaded on my computer, but have not been able to find the time to listen to them. Their sound can best be described as a more progressive and technical Testament.

Heathen was the first of these groups to reunite, releasing a demo in 2005 to rave reviews. They are currently working on their third full length album.

BELIEVER

I find the fact that the four groups discussed so far all have religion-oriented names extremely funny. We've got Atheist, Cynic, and Heathen so far. All we're missing is a Christian group, what should we call them? How about Believer. And that is what Believer is: the Christian counterpart to Atheist, Cynic, and Heathen. Like Heathen though I have only heard a few songs from Believer. They were very good and one of the few Christian metal bands I am very interested in.

Believer released a live album in 2007 then signed on with Metal Blade to release their fourth full-length earlier this year. I am currently on the lookout for this one.