Focus (album) - Citizendia

Focus was released on September 14, 1993 originally as the only studio album by the American metal band Cynic. A studio album is an original collection of new tracks by a recording artist Cynic is a Progressive metal band with incorporated Jazz fusion founded in Miami, Florida, United States. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Technical death metal (also called tech death for short or also can be known as Progressive death metal) is a term used to describe bands in the subgenre Death Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly Thrash metal (sometimes referred to simply as thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized by its fast tempo and aggression In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Roadrunner Records (Roadrunner Music Group BV is a Record label that concentrates on heavy metal bands In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing Scott Burns is an American computer engineer and an ex-music producer of Death metal music resident at Morrisound Recording studio in Tampa Florida Cynic is a Progressive metal band with incorporated Jazz fusion founded in Miami, Florida, United States. allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. Cynic is a Progressive metal band with incorporated Jazz fusion founded in Miami, Florida, United States. A studio album is an original collection of new tracks by a recording artist The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Cynic is a Progressive metal band with incorporated Jazz fusion founded in Miami, Florida, United States. Now they have reformed in 2007 and are releasing the follow-up to their debut.

1 Overview and musical approach
2 Individual players
3 Lyrical approach
4 Influences
5 Track listing
6 Remaster
7 Credits
8 References
9 External links

Overview and musical approach

After years of being hailed as promising in Florida's death metal scene, Cynic recorded Focus. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs fast tempos heavily distorted guitars deep growling vocals morbid lyrics The result was an album combining their love of death metal with other influences, notably jazz-fusion. Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly Instead of choosing the brutal and hard-hitting approach to metal like most of their contemporaries, Focus takes an experimental stance to music.

Although being often dubbed progressive metal, the musical approach on Focus has arguably even more in common with jazz than it has with the progressive metal or progressive rock movements, leading some to coin the term "jazz metal" to describe the music. Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Progressive rock (often shortened to " progressive " " prog " or " prog rock " is a form of Rock music that evolved Fusion or more specifically jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a Musical genre that merges Jazz with elements of other styles of music particularly Elements of both can be found: progressive rock/metal is reflected in some song structures and occasional odd-time meters, while jazz influences are evident in some harmonic and rhythmic phenomena. The songs alternate between harsh death metal parts and more serene, smoother passages. In general, the parts flow smoothly into each other instead of making abrupt, sudden transitions. In addition to being rather complex rhythmically, the songs also feature an advanced approach to harmony, as far as heavy metal music is considered. In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously and chords actual or implied in Music. The vocal melodies are mostly simple and linear, leaving a lot of melodic space for the guitars and even bass instead.

The most distinct feature on the album is the use of two types of main vocals, almost equally prominent. In a traditional death metal vein, the album features a hoarse, guttural, growling voice - death grunts - courtesy of guesting singer Tony Teegarden. cf Death rattle, a sound sometimes made by the dying A death growl, also known as death metal vocals, gutteral vocals Tony Teegarden is a Death metal vocalist who performed the growling vocals on Cynic's debut 1993 album Focus. Lead singer Paul Masvidal was in danger of losing his voice at the time and thus did not perform the growling vocals himself. Paul Masvidal (January 20 1971 is the guitarist singer and a founding member of the recently reunited Progressive metal band Cynic and currently also leads the The other main type of vocal output is Masvidal singing through a vocoder-type effect, resulting in a synthesized voice with a robotic quality. A vocoder, ˈvoʊkoʊdər (a Portmanteau of vox/voc ( voice) and encoder) is an analysis / synthesis system mostly used for speech in which the input is

Individual players

Guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert had joined Chuck Schuldiner's Death to record the seminal Human. Paul Masvidal (January 20 1971 is the guitarist singer and a founding member of the recently reunited Progressive metal band Cynic and currently also leads the Sean Reinert (born May 27th 1971) is the drummer of Cynic and Æon Spoke. Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner ( May 13 1967, Long Island, New York &ndash December 13 2001) was an Death was an influential American Death metal band founded in 1983 by guitarist and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner, considered a "pioneering death Certain similarities can be heard between the two albums, although Focus only rarely reaches the level of aggression found on Human.

The guitar parts of Masvidal and Jason Gobel intertwine, bringing to mind such guitar duos as Television's Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, or Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew from King Crimson. Jason Göbel is an American Guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the technical metal band Cynic and playing guitar on their album Television, formed in New York City in 1973 is an American Rock music band Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13 1949, in Morristown New Jersey) is a Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist Richard Lloyd (born 25 October 1951, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England) is a Guitarist, Composer and a Record Adrian Belew (born Robert Steven Belew, December 23, 1949, in Covington, Kentucky) is an American Guitarist King Crimson is a Progressive rock band founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles in 1969 Only rarely do both guitars play the same part simultaneously; most of the time both guitars have their distinct own parts that tie together to form a fabric of harmonies and melodies, in addition to numerous guitar solos. Guitar solos are a melodic passage section or entire piece of music written for an Electric guitar or an Acoustic guitar. Masvidal's flowing, Allan Holdsworth-esque solos stand out with their free phrasing. Allan Holdsworth (born August 6, 1946 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British Jazz / rock Guitarist

Masvidal and Gobel use very similar gear throughout the record. Both play a Steinberger brand electric guitar equipped with a Roland MIDI pickup and guitar synthesizer, and both used ADA amplification. Steinberger refers to a series of distinctive Electric guitars and Bass guitars designed and originally manufactured by Ned Steinberger. An electric guitar is a type of Guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current which is made louder is a Japanese manufacturer of Electronic musical instruments electronic equipment and Software. MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar Most of the synthesized sounds on the album are generated with these guitar synthesizers, not keyboards. The Steinberger guitars also feature a tremolo system which bends each string an equal amount, allowing the bending of full chord shapes in tune. A demonstration of this is heard in the very first guitar chord of "I'm But A Wave To. . . ".

Sean Malone plays a Kubicki fretless bass nearly throughout the album. Sean Malone is an American musician who plays Fretless Bass guitar and Chapman Stick. Kubicki may refer to Dariusz Kubicki, Polish footballer Eryk Kubicki, Polish footballer A fretless guitar is a Guitar without Frets It operates in the same manner as most other Stringed instruments and traditional Guitars but does The fretless bass has a soft attack and a round, warm sound rather untypical to heavy metal, which usually prefers the punchier attack of fretted bass. This easily draws more comparisons to Death and the aforementioned Human album, which also featured fretless electric bass, played by Steve DiGiorgio. Steve DiGiorgio (born November 7, 1967, Waukegan, Illinois) is an American musician On some parts on Focus Malone plays a 12-string Chapman stick instead. The Chapman Stick is an electric Musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s Malone's bass lines do not generally follow either guitar part. His lines are often quite busy and create a throbbing rhythmical pulse that syncopates with Reinert's drumwork. He also delivers a rare bass solo on the instrumental track "Textures".

Sean Reinert's drum style meshes together elements from both heavy metal and jazz. Sean Reinert (born May 27th 1971) is the drummer of Cynic and Æon Spoke. He skillfully uses accents, fills and varied dynamics to keep the songs rhythmically vivid. In Music, an accent is an emphasis placed on a particular note, either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark. In Music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a Sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece either stylistic He occasionally plays a 16th-note double bass drum beat to emphasize certain parts of songs, but does not play blast beat on the album. A blast beat is a drum beat often associated with Grindcore, although its usage predates the genre and has spread to many other forms of Extreme metal. In addition to an acoustic drum kit, he also uses electronic drums on some songs. A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells An electronic drum is a Percussion instrument in which the sound is generated by an electronic waveform generator or sampler instead of by acoustic vibration The introduction to "Sentiment" demonstrates Reinert playing a polymetric beat consisting of several different meters on top of each other. Meter or metre is a concept related to an underlying division of time characteristic of western music

Lyrical approach

The lyrics, written by Masvidal, are poetic, philosophically and spiritually laden texts that take on subjects such as perceiving the world as whole, distinguishing reality and illusion, concentration and meditation. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness Many of the songs incorporate themes, titles or excerpts from other works: "Veil of Maya" takes its title from a Ralph Waldo Emerson poem of the same name, while "Sentiment" quotes a prayer from Whispers to Eternity by Paramahansa Yogananda. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25 1803 &ndash April 27 1882 was an American essayist philosopher poet and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century Paramahansa Yogananda ( Bengali: পরমহংস যোগানন্দ Pôromohôngsho Joganondo, Sanskrit: परमहंस योगानं‍द Lots of influences from oriental mysticism and religions as well as some New Age themes are present. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature The whole lyrical perspective is positive, humane and humble, which are all rather untypical qualities in heavy metal texts.

Influences

Atheist and Watchtower had previously fused death metal with jazz. Atheist are a Technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984 whose music combined brutal riffs with subtle Latin music arrangements and Watchtower is an American progressive / technical Thrash metal band based in Austin Texas who were mostly active in the 1980s Cynic itself has had a notable influence on some later groups. Echoes of Cynic's approach can be heard in the music of many later death metal groups such as Pestilence (especially their 1993 swansong Spheres), Martyr, Cryptopsy, Behold... the Arctopus and even Meshuggah, as well as some progressive metal groups such as Spiral Architect, Sceptic, and Continuo Renacer. Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs fast tempos heavily distorted guitars deep growling vocals morbid lyrics Pestilence are a Death metal band from the Netherlands founded in 1986 Cryptopsy is a Death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada that was formed in 1992 Behold The Arctopus is an Experimental metal band from Brooklyn, New York, United States. Meshuggah is a Swedish five-piece Experimental metal band formed in 1987 Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex Spiral Architect is a Norwegian progressive technical metal band from Lørenskog, Norway. Sceptic - Polish Death metal band from Kraków. Sceptic is technically adept with good production values Many have regarded Opeth as their spiritual successors. Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band that formed in 1990 in Stockholm.

Track listing

"Veil of Maya" – 5:23
"Celestial Voyage" – 3:40
"The Eagle Nature" – 3:30
"Sentiment" – 4:23
"I'm But a Wave to. . . " – 5:30
"Uroboric Forms" – 3:32
"Textures" – 4:42
"How Could I" – 5:29

Remaster

In 2004 Roadrunner Records released a remastered version of Focus, which contained the original eight tracks and six bonus tracks. Roadrunner Records (Roadrunner Music Group BV is a Record label that concentrates on heavy metal bands Three of these were remixed versions of Focus songs, while the three other songs are taken from the members' post-Cynic project Portal's eponymous demo. Portal featured almost the same lineup as Cynic. Sean Malone was replaced by Chris Kringel and a fifth member, Aruna Abrams, joined on vocals and keyboards. Chris Kringel is an American Bass guitarist born in Appleton, Wisconsin, who has performed with Cynic, Æon Spoke and Inda All Cynic songs were written by Cynic; all Portal songs were written by Portal. The remixed tracks feature the same lineup as the original release.

All music written by Cynic, all lyrics by Paul Masvidal. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing Paul Masvidal (January 20 1971 is the guitarist singer and a founding member of the recently reunited Progressive metal band Cynic and currently also leads the

"Veil of Maya" – 5:21
"Celestial Voyage" – 3:37
"The Eagle Nature" – 3:28
"Sentiment" – 4:24
"I'm But a Wave To. . . " – 5:28
"Uroboric Forms" – 3:30
"Textures" – 4:40
"How Could I" – 5:28
"Veil of Maya (2004 Remix)" – 5:22
"I'm But a Wave To. . . (2004 Remix)" – 5:21
"How Could I (2004 Remix)" – 6:20
Portal: "Cosmos" – 4:21
Portal: "The Circle's Gone" – 5:20
Portal: "Endless Endeavors" – 9:56

Total Length: 72:29

Credits

Tony Teegarden − guttural vocals
Paul Masvidal − guitar, guitar synthesizer, vocals
Sean Reinert − drums, percussion, keyboards
Jason Gobel − guitar, guitar synthesizer
Sean Malone − bass, Chapman stick (Cynic tracks only)

References

External links

The Cynical Sphere (all things Cynic-related)

Tony Teegarden is a Death metal vocalist who performed the growling vocals on Cynic's debut 1993 album Focus. Paul Masvidal (January 20 1971 is the guitarist singer and a founding member of the recently reunited Progressive metal band Cynic and currently also leads the An electric guitar is a type of Guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current which is made louder Sean Reinert (born May 27th 1971) is the drummer of Cynic and Æon Spoke. A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard. Jason Göbel is an American Guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the technical metal band Cynic and playing guitar on their album Sean Malone is an American musician who plays Fretless Bass guitar and Chapman Stick. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the The Chapman Stick is an electric Musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s

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