Cynic / Linear Sphere
25 June 2007
Camden Dingwalls, London
For a gig with seemingly sod all promotion, Dingwalls was surprisingly busy with the grapevine obviously in full action. There was a constant stream of customers at the merchandise stall heading away with either Focus shirts or a reunion shirt featuring the Focus artwork in blue.
London based Linear Sphere opened the evening with some incredibly schizophrenic progressive metal. The first thing that struck you about the band was Dutch frontman Jos Géron, whose vocals cover a myriad of styles. At times occupying Watchtower like helium highs, Géron`s melodies could never be termed predictable. Annotating his lyrics with his free hand, with little other movement on stage, Géron drew your gaze.
The rest of Linear Sphere appeared very tight and locked in to what they were playing. What was difficult for the casual observer was to keep a track of where they were heading. None more so difficult than on closing number, From Space To Time, which Géron rightly described as "a long one." With a multitude of parts, the song apparently ended and received applause on a number of occasions before starting up again. An interesting, if perplexing start to the evening.
Linear Sphere set list:
Reversal / Father Pyramid / From Space To Time
Cynic`s debut and only album finally saw the light of day in 1993 - on my Birthday as it happens! After the records protracted birth, a short burst of touring commenced, and then it was all over by the end of the following year, leaving progressive metal fans to mourn the loss of a truly original band.
It`s not surprising therefore that Cynic`s return this year is hugely anticipated and fans were practically salivating in front of Dingwalls` stage, as chanting was played through the P.A. It`s well known that guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal is a devoted practitioner of yoga and meditation and hence the prologue is unsurprising. Dreamy images appear projected behind the band as the musicians arrive with little fanfare, but loud crowd response.
Veil Of Maya opened the performance with Masvidal providing the inhuman cyber voice. What was immediately apparent was that the growled vocals were not being generated onstage but were part of the backing track. Apparently it had proved financially unviable to bring Tony Teegarden, who sang on Focus, over for this European tour and hence recorded growls proved the solution.
From a visual point of view, the lack of an actual person delivering the harsh vocals was a little odd, however, more so than on record, they seemed to be pushed to the back of a mix and the overall effect did not suffer. If Cynic are to record together again, perhaps this hints at a future without growls. Due to these vocals and indeed Cynic`s own history, the band have often been lumped in with the death metal scene, when in truth by the time of Focus` release they had moved from by some considerable distance at a tangent. This fact was amplified by this performance in London.
Following an excellent rendition of I`m But A Wave, Masvidal announced that "sometimes I miss having my long hair", noting the lack of headbanging from the now short haired Cynic. Indeed it`s a very static performance, though this was to be expected and anyone anticipating onstage dramatics would have been disappointed.
The dramatics are in fact in the playing. I was reliably informed by a fellow drummer that Sean Reinert`s performance was stunning [drummers note: particularly his use of the high-hat]. Chris Kringel is no stranger to the Cynic line-up having toured with the band in 1993. His playing was fluid and dexterous, as he raced around his six stringed bass. Meanwhile, the guy with the biggest job, as far as living up to the band`s legacy, is new guitarist David Senescu. Senescu not only admirably recreated the Focus guitar lines, but fitted seamlessly into the band`s line-up.
Aside from the Focus album, three other tracks were performed by Cynic which, as stated, may hint at a future direction should they continue. The wistful Cosmos was familiar to many here as a bonus track on the reissued Focus album. Masvidal`s vocal lost some of its robotic feel for this song, with a much more straight clean singing style. A cover of Mahavishnu Orchestra`s Meeting The Spirits showed clearly where the band was coming from. However, it will be new song Evolutionary Sleeper, which Masvidal described as "Work in progress" that will garner most interest. Certainly a world away from death metal, the track was progressive and uplifting and received a good response. Here`s hoping it finds its way into the recording studio with some further new material.
Cynic set list:
Veil Of Maya / Celestial Voyage / The Eagle Nature / Sentiment / I'm But A Wave To... / Evolutionary Sleeper / Textures / Uroboric Forms / Cosmos / Meeting Of The Spirits / How Could I
LINKS:
Cynic
Linear Sphere
|
