I’m sure it was pure coincidence that Cynic‘s Toronto show happened to take place at the same time as the final weekend of the Toronto Jazz Festival but nevertheless, in many ways it seemed like perfect timing.
After all, the band’s pioneering sound owes more than a little to jazz – 30 years after the release of their debut album Focus, Cynic’s proggy blend of technical death metal and jazz fusion still sounds groundbreaking and ahead of its time. And in honour of the 30th anniversary of the album’s release, the band made their way to Lee’s Palace this past Saturday night to perform the album in its entirety.
Taking to the stage looking somewhat like a cool hippie art teacher who just got back from a yoga retreat, bandleader Paul Masvidal led his bandmates through an incredible set full of technical riffage and plenty of vocoder effects on his vocals.
After running through their 1993 debut album from front to back, the band took a pause wherein Masvidal took a moment to cleanse the stage with sage before finishing things off with a handful of more recent tunes.
He also took a moment to acknowledge the banner put up on stage in tribute to his late bandmates Sean Malone and Sean Reinert (both of whom passed in 2020), noting that everything they were doing this evening was in honour of them. I think it’s safe to say that on this occasion, Masvidal and the current lineup of Cynic definitely did them justice.