Metal: Cynic- what was it like when they came out?

[sknight]

I was listening to the reissue of Cynic's Focus all day, which includes a lot of extra stuff. The extras include some really stonerish existential songs with Aruna Abrams singing.

I was wondering what was it like for metal fans to take in Cynic way back when if it wasn't heavy, it was shit. Was it hard for people to take in such diverse music? Were they acknowledged only in death? I also led in from Focus into Death's Human by mistake and there's really a musical theme there. As if there's a progression of the same from one to another.

[Exanimate]

It was strange when Cynic came out. The average death metal fan didn't like it much, but there were many that were into that stuff. Atheist, Pestilence, Death, etc...

I think those bands were a bit ahead of their time, and that is why I don't think they had much staying power back in the brutal age of death metal. Death is really the only progressive/death band that somewhat made it, and that is only because Chuck kept an element of the Tampa death metal sound in there, even though he was getting way away from it by the time TSOP came out.

[sknight]

Ever lead out of Focus and into Human? You might see a natural flow.

[Exanimate]

Same drummer, so that could be part of it, and Digiorgio always played in that same unique style.

[sknight]

Don't forget Pete Masvidal went into Death with Sean. I read somewhere that Death's technical direction was inspired in part and progressed by Cynic and the presence of Sean and Pete on Human.

[Death Metal Moe]

That CD was always good, but the jazzy/spacy stuff gets boring, fast.

[25133WhooOoAH]

peopel consider Focus to the best album of all time also, which i think it is an awesome musical album but nowhere near the best ever. And i Prefer Death's human to focus anyday

[Exanimate]

Also, it dawned on me earlier that Human came out 2 years before Focus did.