REFLECTIONS OF A DYING WORLD

"Reflections of a Dying World" is the second demo recording by US techncial/progressive metal act Cynic. The demo was independently released in 1989. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the release of Cynic´s 1988 demo, as lead vocalist Jack Kelly has jumped ship. Guitarist Paul Masvidal therefore performs vocals on "Reflections of a Dying World" in addition to playing guitar and Jason Gobel has been added as a second guitarist. The rhythm section of bassist Mark Van Erp and drummer Sean Reinert remain from the first demo.

Stylistically Cynic continue to play a technical version of Bay Area thrash metal (aggressive acts like Vio-Lence and Dark Angel), just like they did on the first demo and although especially the drumming by Reinert is on a high technical level, the relatively generic thrash metal songwriting and Masvidal´s raw staccato delivered thrash meetal vocals keep things grounded and there´s little here which sticks after the demo has ended playing.

The sound production is decent considering that "Reflections of a Dying World" is a 1989 thrash metal demo, and you can easily hear all instruments and vocals in the mix. I don´t hear great development since the first demo though and that goes for both the sound production values, the performances, and the songwriting, and this is still far away from what Cynic would evolve into in just a few years. A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).