Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Cynic - Focus (1993)
Cynic's Focus is known by many as a progressive tech-death classic, and I had that same thought when I was listening to that album 5 years before this review. Although I enjoyed this album a lot back then, I seem to have distanced from it not too long after. As I grow older (age 26 right now to be exact), I'm really losing touch with the more jazz-infused prog-metal, though my break from death metal was another reason why I fell out of love with this album.
As I revisit Cynic's 1993 debut, I can still hear its amazing uniqueness! Many of the members have started out in death metal bands, appearing in at least one album by Death, Master, and Monstrosity. Cynic had the idea of blending death metal with jazzy prog, which has also been done by Atheist back then. The best moments of Focus come in their more spacey moments as opposed to when they just go all-out tech-death. A lot of the power comes from the rhythm section, with the mystical bass of Sean Malone and the dexterous drumming of Sean Reinert (RIP the two Seans).
The album starts with the fantastic opening track "Veil of Maya" which would inspire the name of death/metalcore band Veil of Maya. It's still one of my favorite tracks of the album. Next up, "Celestial Voyage" is a more ambitious track. Deathly riffing and jazz sections sound so great together! "The Eagle Nature" is a more deathly track, having come from one of the demos. Still it's interesting hearing Paul Masvidal's vocoded cleans in contrast with the death growls of Tony Teegarden.
"Sentiment" might just be the best track of the album, maybe one of the best of prog-metal! The best part of it all is the ethereal midsection bridge. The beginning of "I'm But a Wave to..." starts strong, though I feel like the metal riffing kicking in was an abrupt switch after that dreamy drift.
"Uroboric Forms" is another more deathly track from the demos, which is cool but rather different from the rest of the album. Next up, "Textures" is an instrumental that djenty prog-metal band Textures would name themselves after. Lots of Watchtower-infused jazzy brilliance! "How Could I?" is still a great track but the strangest one here, attempting to get all thrashy in the chorus with less than desirable results.
See, 5 years before this review, I loved everything about this album and found the more metallic songs catchy. But now, their attempts at sounding metal in a couple tracks are a bit iffy and that's why a half-star is knocked from my 5-star rating. Still it's quite a classic, with most of the first half still as perfect as ever. Just turn it on and.... FOCUS!
Favorites: "Veil of Maya", "Celestial Voyage", "Sentiment", "Textures"