RAW MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
WITH PAUL MASVIDAL

They've been around for over six years and still haven't got round to recording their début LP! They're CYNIC and they've loaned members to the likes of Death and Pestilence. Phil Alexander catches up with guitar-wielding mainman Paul Masvidal and hears about the rising force of techno-Death Metal from hell! (Well, Miami, actually - Ed)

Cynic are almost what you could call the state-of-the-art underground band. For the last six years, they've been lauded by various fanzines and fellow musos as the outfit most likely to drag Death Metal into new vistas of techno-brutality. And yet, for the nucleus of guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert, the last few years have offered little more than frustration and an innumerable set of line-up changes.

At long last, having constantly been through the mangle, lending members to the likes of Death (for their Human LP and last year's ill-fated European tour), Pestilence and Atheist, and finding their rehearsal warehouse destroyed in the latest hurricane to hit their Miami hometown, the Cynic crew are well and truly ready to roll.

"It's been a long while coming," agrees mainman Masvidal on the wire from Florida, "But we figure these things have all happened for a reason. In fact, as far as Cynic goes, it's meant we've had time to think and work out what we want to do. We've had to use the fact that we've been sitting around for years as some sort of advantage to stop from going insane!"

The Cynic tale began in late '87 when Paul and Sean decided to take their previously "cheesy brutal efforts" a little more seriously. A "really bad" demo was swiftly cobbled together before the first official Cynic demo release, the four-song Reflections Of A Dying World, surfaced on the underground in '89. Masvidal admits that in the cold light of '93 he's more than a tad embarrassed about these early offerings, including the 1990 demo, another roughshod affair thrown up at the suggestion of Atheist man and massive Cynic fan Kelly Shaefer.

"I think all that early stuff sounds terrible now," laughs Paul. "Since then, we did a demo in '91 which RoadRunner paid for and that all came about because we had done that Death stuff and the label kinda felt that, with all the attention we were getting, we couldn't really do too bad. It was pretty sad it had to be done that way, but whatever it takes was what we had to do and we did it."

Impressed by what they heard on the demo, RoadRunner subsequently offered Cynic a deal and, as with Disincarnate, snatched a cut from the demo to sling on the At Death's Door II compilation.

The cut in question, Uroboric Forms, is a whirlwind of twisted Death Metal. A technical tour de force, could it be that Cynic's brand of tangled tempo changes and mangled melodies are a little too complex for yer average Death Metaller to grapple with?

"We've always had those kind of criticisms, but I think it takes a different kind of listening to get into what we're doing," proffers Masvidal. "It's definitely not ear candy and we always try to give the songs a bit more depth. The most important thing is growing musically and that's our main priority and it always has been. Lately we've been getting into the whole Jazz and Fusion thing and that's meant we've got into a different style of playing. Our riffing style is different from other bands and it throws people. Recently we've decided that we should try and meet our listening audience halfway. Instead of having ten different moods in each song, we're kinda going for one dominant mood. It's a different approach for us!"

Cynic's brand of ultra-technical death and destruction is about to find its' way onto vinyl in the next few months with recording ambitiously being slated for March with longtime friend Scott Burns at the production helm. The band's line-up, though, remains remains a point of speculation; the threesome of Masvidal, Reinert and guitarist Jason Gobel have yet to find a suitable four-stringer, despite Atheist's Darren McFarland proffering a helping hand.

"We can't wait to get into the studio and get on with the album but we do want to sort that situation out," comments Masvidal before offering a parting shot.

"Obviously it's been frustrating for us and the label, but our ideas have really grown during this time. We're headed into a new kind of territory. It's not really Death Metal, it's just weird. I don't know how to explain it, but there's going to be an instrumental on there so we can get all the technical shit out of us and have fun and it definitely won't have a structure, it'll just be free flowing! I hope people get a lot out of it 'cos we've put Cynic off for a long time and now it's time for people to get to hear our music."

Hellbent on a ride through technical ecstasy, expect Cynic to hit hard real soon.