ASCENSION CODES

This is quite a strange album from Cynic. Bereft of former members Sean Reinert and Sean Malone, on drums and bass respectively (both having sadly have passed away), you know you are going to be in for a lesser listening experience. Malone's fretless bass and especially Reinert's drumming were as much a cornerstone to the band's sound as Paul Masvidal's guitar playing and songwriting. I'll even go so far as to say that the late Reinert was one of the best prog drummers who ever lived and was easily in the class of greats like Palmer and Peart. His ability to be highly technical while still being able to swing the groove can't be overlooked.

So what we have here is basically a Masvidal solo album with hired sidemen. Dave Mackay does the keys and rubbery sounding synth bass, while Matt Lynch does the drumming in a more conventional rock style than his predecessor, with all of the rock drumming clichés like rim shots and jazzy high hat rhythms.

But the main problem is with the music itself. More in the mainstream of prog, with heavy use of synths, the songs sound very uninspired in their now spacy atmospheric style. The second major problem is a group of songs bereft of catchy riffs and hooks that was so prominent on past albums. In fact, an infectious riff doesn't surface until the intro of the album's 13th track titled "Aurora". By then, it's a case of too little too late. The third problem is that Masdival's weak vocals are all but buried in the sound mix until the the album's last few vocal tracks. Masdival might not be a powerhouse vocalist, but his voice is pleasant and fits with his song's subject matter of attaining higher consciousness and a peaceful repose.

So, I can't recommend this album for Cynic fans, but perhaps those who like generic sounding atmospheric space rock might enjoy it, so 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 sounds about right.