CYNIC's PAUL MASVIDAL Interviewed On 'White Noise Metal'

Progressive metal fans of a certain age will remember CYNIC as one of the founding members of the sub-genre in the early '90s. Now CYNIC is back with a soon-to-be-released EP following up on the 2008 album "Traced in Air".

On the last night of the band's 2010 tour with BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME in Charlotte, North Carolina, CYNIC frontman Paul Masvidal sat down with White Noise Metal's "That BS Dude" Brian Shields to talk about the band and the progressive metal movement's evolution.

"Generally all of the songs start on acoustic guitar with strong chord changes and a good melody," Masvidal said of CYNIC's songwriting process. "At the root of it, I'm really just interested in a great song. It's always about subtraction to kind of get to that. It's almost like an effective poem. You just wanna say as much as you can with as little as possible. It's tricky to do that in the world of progressive music because it tends to do the opposite where you're more indulgent. But we've always kind of [done] it in a more concentrated way versus the other extreme, which is extended. It's more about trying to keep it simple, really, but engaging in what we do naturally as musicians, stylistically."

On the White Noise Metal video podcast, which can be viewed below, Paul and Brian also talk about three songs off "Traced in Air": "The Space for This", "Evolutionary Sleeper", and "Adam's Murmur".

"White Noise Metal" with "That BS Dude" Brian Shields features interviews and profiles with some of the top names in the genre. Previous episodes have spotlighted bands ranging from TRIVIUM to SHADOWS FALL to THE FACELESS to GOJIRA to CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.

The podcast is available for download on iTunes or at www.whitenoisemetal.com.

On May 17, CYNIC will release a brand new EP entitled "Re-Traced", featuring reinterpretations of four songs from the group's critically acclaimed "Traced In Air" album as well as a previously unreleased song.

"'Re-Traced' is an experiment for us — an opportunity to turn four songs from 'Traced in Air' inside out and to share something new", commented Masvidal.

"In our exploration, we've created music that is part 'sci-fi prog folk,' part psychedelic rock, part minimalist restraint. These interpretations feel channeled from another galaxy.

"For the most part, the tunes reference some of our favourite musical forms and in our own curious way (electronic/ambient, jazz/fusion, drum n' bass, experimental, shoegaze). There is no vocoder, no traditionally busy CYNIC riffs that are some of our most signatures sounds, but the music retains its song structure, integral melodic sense, harmony and lyrical inspiration."

Masvidal on the new song: "It is entitled 'Wheels Within Wheels' and it is the most rock/metal tune on the EP. Mood-wise it has a melodic optimism that is a bit more transparent than in other CYNIC songs, giving it a unique and emotive color.

"We are really pleased with the performances and energy of this track. Considering this song is perhaps the closest reference to a familiar CYNIC sound, it still leaves behind many of the former trademarks and introduces a new shade of groove and dynamic.

"Progressive music has many faces, and that is always the name of the game for CYNIC: reinventing ourselves and pushing our own musical boundaries for ourselves and our fans."

"Traced in Air" was released in North America on November 25, 2008 via Season of Mist. Returning from the "Focus" era for the eight-song, 35-minute effort were founding members Paul Masvidal (guitar, vocals) and Sean Reinert (drums) along with Sean Malone (bass),and joining the band in the studio was newcomer Tymon Kruidenier (guitars/growls). The band recorded the CD at a California studio with producer Warren Riker (DOWN, SANTANA).