Ok, ok, ok. As promised a few days ago, I decided to give this entire Cynic EP (currently streaming in full on Pitchfork) the opportunity to impress me in the way that the title track failed to do. Spoiler alert: my opinion has actually been down-graded quite a bit. Read on… Continue reading
So in an earlier post I downloaded the title track from the new EP Carbon-Based Anatomy, by Cynic (released yesterday on Season of Mist).
I went on to discuss how that particular song nearly bored me to death. And I promptly deleted it from my downloads library as soon as I’d heard it. But there continues to be a wordwide Cynic-mania of epic proportions… at least based on the number of hits I continue to get on that specific post (which was now nearly a month ago) compared with any of the others I have written since then. So obviously people are really excited about this release for some reason.
Well, you might be interested in knowing that Pitchfork has got a FREE stream of the full album currently online, just click here to check it out.
Simply based on the amount of interest this has been generating, I feel obligated to take a chance on the rest of the album — in case the one advance single that was released is completely non-representative of all the other songs. I highly doubt it, but I will be giving this an apprehensive test-drive later today. And I will share my reactions in a follow-up post sometime this weekend. So stay tuned for that!
In the meantime:
Carbon-Based Anatomy (CD), or (digital download).
So it’s not often I see the interwebs so abuzz over an upcoming release, especially one that doesn’t have the words “Devin” or “Townsend” in the name, as they have been lately for the new EP Carbon-Based Anatomy, by Cynic (due 11/11/11 on Season of Mist).
I just got done listening to the advance sample, the title track — which was made available for free download (here) earlier this week — and I haven’t quit yawning yet. I can’t believe how bent-out-of-shape folks have been about Opeth‘s latest being too un-metal or whatever (stay tuned for a separate post on that whole situation, coming soon), and yet people are somehow all frothing at the mouth for this?
Now, I’m fully aware that I’m too old and out-of-touch to really understand most current musical fads, but here is a band that has been around (off and on) for the past twenty-four years, and reportedly is now considered some sort of “progressive death metal fusion” hybrid (according to the Encyclopaedia Metallum). I don’t really know what this song was, but I feel like I’ve been robbed of the past six-and-a-half minutes of my life. I haven’t heard this much ‘pretty boy’ singing, synthy electronic ambience, and particularly, such an absence of anything metallic, since the last couple Muse albums. I’m pretty sure my wife would adore this, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it (just ask LeVar Burton), so feel free to give it a spin using the link up above, and if by some chance this really floats your boat, you can pre-order the CD here, or pre-order the digital download here.
Valley of Steel 