CYNIC's Paul Masvidal - "We Did Put Our Hearts And Souls Into Focus And It Was A Massive Labour Of Love And A Journey Against All Odds"
December 25, 2008, 15 years ago
BW&BK;'s Dom Lawson spoke to CYNIC singer/guitarist Paul Masvidal (ex-DEATH) recently for a cover feature found in BW&BK; Magazine #113 - available now. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
“It’s amazing how time flies. It’s just been so blurry, this past year. It’s one of those things where I’ve been really present in my life but I can’t really break down everything has unfolded. It’s just been so fast.”There’s only one way to make a comeback without leaving a trail of disappointment and disillusionment behind you. Fully 15 years after their first album, the progressive death metal masterpiece Focus, Floridian tech-wizards Cynic have returned with Traced In Air, not just a worthy follow-up to the album that made them such a by-word for invention and originality within underground circles, but a dazzling work of inspirational musicality that genuinely surpasses the efforts of old. No wonder the arcane internet world muttering has begun to rattle and thrum with the excited twittering of devoted fans who simply never believed that this transient force for musical betterment would ever return for real…
“…and not to mention a whole generation that wasn’t even born when we made the record!” says Masvidal, clearly delighted by the fact that Focus has survived to win over successive waves of open-minded metal fans during his band’s prolonged hiatus. “They were there at the reunion shows singing the songs. It was very surreal in a way. I have a lot of gratitude for this kind of thing because we did put our hearts and souls into Focus and it was a massive labour of love and a journey against all odds. We didn’t have lot of people believing in what we were doing and supporting our creative process back then, but here we are 15 years later. The scene was just one big extreme metal scene back in ’93, but now it seems like there’s all these subgenres and different kinds of bands. It’s expanded and it’s so much bigger now.”Copies of BW&BK;'s famous year-end Brave Picks 2008 issue #113 with METALLICA on the cover are available at this location.
