Cynic

In the finale of Fallow Heart, Forrest Pitts interviews Cynic’s Paul Masvidal on the poetry of Focus and beyond.

Kelly Shaefer, of Atheist and Till the Dirt, is host of the A Piece of Time Podcast. In Episode 2, Shaefer interviews Cynic‘s Paul Masvidal for two incredible hours. Atheist and Cynic embark on the Focus and Presence tour June 10th in Austin, TX.

In Part III of Azusa, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson‘s and Decibel‘s Forrest Pitts’ discussion, they refocus on the impact of 16 Horsepower.

Part II of Azusa, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson‘s and Decibel‘s Forrest Pitts’ discussion of the spiritual nature of Cynic‘s 1993 classic Focus.

In which Azusa, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson and Decibel‘s Forrest Pitts discuss the spiritual nature of Cynic‘s 1993 classic Focus.

Paul Masvidal (Cynic) finds rebirth in the Season of Mist reissue of the final Æon Spoke (Aeon Spoke) full-length.

Eric Greif, Steve Di Giorgio, Paul Masvidal, and René Miville reminisce about the genre-changing, mandatory-listen that is Death‘s Human on its 30th birthday.

Decibel sends our deepest condolences to his family, friends, bandmates and countless fans around the world. Rest in power, Sean.

To celebrate the release of Cattle Decapitation‘s new collection, Medium Rarities, we caught up with vocalist Travis Ryan to find out what five heavy albums changed his life.

Don’t call them comebacks. Call them the best reunion albums in metal history.

Nearly 100 issues ago, we inducted Cynic‘s Focus into our not-yet-crowded-with-talent Hall of Fame. Now we count down those songs in celebration of one of the most confounding death metal records ever.

Persefone have released a music video for “Living Waves,” featuring Paul Masvidal of Cynic. 

Just a quick listen to Cynic would reveal that Paul Masvidal and company probably have pretty eclectic musical tastes. Given that the band dropped its third full-length, Kindly Bent To Free Us, last month, the guitarist/vocalist was kind enough to pass along a medley of recent (and fairly nostalgic) listens. As he explains, “Playlists have…

Few people have a professional circle that includes Chris Barnes and Alex Webster, sexy pop starlet Terri Nunn and global film star Jim Carrey. One of them is Decibel Hall Of Fame inductee Paul Masvidal (enshrined with his Cynic bandmates for Focus). When Cynic fell apart in the mid-90s, Masvidal relocated to Los Angeles, where…

Back in May, the Deciblog allowed me the space to gush a little about Death To All frontman and Cynic tour buddy Max Phelps, who I’ve known a little bit since seeing his band Exist play in several low-key Maryland venues.  At the end of 2010, Exist recorded and released their In Mirrors EP, and…

Admission of personal bias:  I think Max is awesome, because I’ve seen Max do Max’s thing in Max’s band (Exist) and Max’s band is awesome.  I once described Exist’s music as not metal so much as a rad jazz quartet that decided to plug in and rip it up all loud-like.  Those proggy death-flecked jams…

Sure, Meshuggah releasing its seventh full-length on Tuesday was an event in and of itself. But what has gotten somewhat lost amidst the furor is that, for the quintet, this year marks a quarter century of polyrhythms, polymeters and, of course, polytours. To celebrate both achievements, we enlisted the help of some of the many…

#5. The end of the “Morrisound” era. In the late ‘80s Morrisound Studios in Tampa was the place to record, and it provided the first real clear production, in my opinion, of double bass work that was happening in the early days of extreme metal. For the first time you were able to hear things…

Focus almost never happened. Hurricane Andrew (a Category 5 storm that devastated South Florida in 1992), bassists frequently exiting and three separate visits to Morrisound Studios could’ve cost the world Cynic.