TRACED IN AIR

I've never been into Cynic much, until they reformed last year and they released a new album. The hype surrounding this album was huge. So I decided to give Traced in Air a try. The album has 8 songs and 34:07 running time, which some people may find short. But I think it's perfect to hold the attention of the listener throughout the album. We have a tribal opening with Nunc Fluens, nothing much to say here. The beginning of The Space for This is beautfiul, the clean vocals and guitars blend very beautifully with each other. The song is huge, very good drumming, very nice vocal melodies. One difference I can spot when compared to Focus is that Cynic returns to a more melodic sound. This may be very welcoming for new fans and I think it will be. The growls aren't used as much as Focus but they're still present. Then we move onto another standout track from the album Evolutionary Sleeper. Very good and powerful opening, solid riffs. The chorus is very melodic and catchy. The way the growls and clean vocals are used on top of each other is really weird I must say, but it gives a very different vibe. The guitar solo of this song is amazing, best I heard from Cynic. Very jazzy and very melodic at the same time. I think this song can very well be suggested for a first listener of Cynic. The fourth track is Integral Birth. Very much in the vein of Evolutionary Sleeper, again very melodic vocals, solid riffs. The use of growl is much more present in comparison to Evolutionary Sleeper. We move to the second side of the album. The Unknown Guest starts with fade-in riffs, the band is like a cannon. They pass from very heavy riffs to clean and soft parts very professionally. The technical proficiency in this album sometimes reminds me of King Crimson album Discipline. We have a short ambient break in the middle, followed by a very melodic guitar solo in The Unknown Guest. The end has some sort of tribal chants, very good track indeed. The second track is Adam's Murmur, a very changing dynamic song. The clean parts are very,very beautiful, dreamy. The drum performance of Sean Reinert is above limits. A softer and more melodic track when compared to the whole album. Then we move on to the longest track on the album, King of Those Who Know. This is the one, starts with clean guitars and angel vocals, but quickly moves into growls and heavy riffs. Some clean arpeggios are very melancholic. Very synth sounding guitar solo is placed in the middle. I love how condensed this album is and everything is in its right place, beautiful. A very jazzy part near the end, sometimes reminding of Textures and at last Nunc Stans finishes where Nunc Fluens started off, very calm ending track. The album with its cover, 8 solid songs, very proficient musicians and their dedication deserve a 5 star from me. This is clearly one of the best releases of the year along with Opeth's Watershed and Steven Wilson's Insurgentes.