REFOCUS

Cynic's seminal 1993 technical prog metal album Focus is one of the few albums that defines its genre while transcending it at the same time. So, when this remixed edition was released in 2023, it was an essential purchase for me. Or was it?

With founding members Sean Reinert on drums and Sean Malone on bass now sadly deceased, the Cynic legacy is totally in the hands of vocalist, guitarist and composer Paul Masvidal. So, this remix, for better or worse, is purely his vision. The first thing noticeable with lead off track "Veil Of Maya" is the change of tones and volume of the twin guitars of Masvidal and Jason Gobel. They are as not as loud and powerful, but are cleaned up so there's more detail in both of their playing. Reinert's excellent drum work is more to the fore with a heavier bottom to his manic bass drumming, as well as more clarity to his cymbal work. Malone's bass seems more or less unaffected. Masvidal's vocoder treated vocals are more prominent and clearer as are Tony Teegarden's growly vocals. And here's where the song loses balance in the mix as both were fighting to be heard among the aggressive and almost crushing guitars found in the original mix, which made the song so enjoyable. This is heavy metal after all, and this style of mixing is prevalent in all the album's songs. Even guest vocalist Sonia Otey's brief backing vocals on the later verses on "Veil Of Maya" is mixed down to a ghost like accompaniment to Masvidal's robotic vocals. Interestingly, she's more prominent in her brief panning vocal on the follow up track "Celestial Voyage", which suffers from the same anemic guitar mix down as "Veil Of Maya". Only two songs suffer less from the new mix, "Textures" and "How Could I", but they are not improvements over the original song mixes, just acceptable.

The best I can say about Refocus is that it's like looking at a blueprint for an impressive building or looking at the model used for a sculpture or painting. You see the all the elements that were assembled for such a fine work, but you're not looking at the finished whole. 3 stars.