By Andrew Bansal
Nov. 23rd 2011, Key Club, Hollywood CA: On the back of their brand new EP “Carbon-Based Anatomy”, Los Angeles-based experimental metal masters Cynic embarked on a shortish 3-week North American tour to promote this release. The last night of this tour was in their hometown on November 23rd, at the Key Club in Hollywood. I’ve been intrigued by this latest musical offering from Cynic, and was very much looking forward to see it played live, in addition to the older material of course. As the EP is only 22 minutes in duration, I was expecting pretty much the whole of it to be included in the set. It was also the first time Cynic’s new line-up was doing an LA show, and I was interested to see how the addition of Brandon Giffin on bass and Max Phelps on guitar would turn out. Besides Cynic’s own stellar set list and new line-up, they brought with them two excellent progressive metal bands 3 and Scale The Summit as support acts. The package of bands couldn’t have been any better in my opinion, and by the end of the night, I was convinced that it was as good as I had expected it to be.
It was weird that there were no local openers last night, and as far as I can remember from the countless shows I’ve seen here, that has never happened before at this venue. So it was great for a change to be able to enjoy just the touring bands, which also meant the support bands each got a 45-minute set rather than the usual 30.
Scale The Summit hit the stage at 8.20, and impressed one and all with their performance. Even though they are an instrumental band, their music was strong enough to hold everyone’s attention. Looking at the set as one giant musical piece, I would say even though it was intertwined with varying patterns, there was sufficient degree of rhythm, for the listener to be able to understand what’s going on. So I would like to commend them for their selection and ordering of the tunes. There was a pleasant flow to it all. It was also nice to see “Glacial Planet” make an appearance in their set after a long time. The songs from the latest album “The Collective” sounded perfect due to the large amount of touring they’ve done since the release of that album. It was a pristine display of musicianship, and this is one band I’ll never get tired of.
Next up was New York-based quartet 3, and while they can also be categorized as progressive rock/metal, their style is completely contrasting from that of Scale The Summit, and that was great for this show as a whole. Frontman Joey Eppard, drummer Chris Gartmann and bassist Daniel Grimsland combined together to create a very clean and rich three-fold vocal harmony, an important aspect of their music. But, Joey’s insane usage of finger-picking, slap playing techniques on acoustic-electric guitars was the standout feature of their set. At one point, his guitar solo led to Chris’ drum solo, and eventually all four members traded solos with each other. That was a very intense and gripping part of the set, and one that drew loud cheers and applause from this stunned audience. Guitarist Billy Riker was also great in his role, and wasn’t overshadowed by Joey. He brought with him a more conventional heavy metal element, through his regular electric guitar and flamboyant stage moves. In fact, during one of the songs he jumped up and down so high that he somehow managed to unplug his guitar. It was hilarious to see him hastily attempt to fix it. Set-wise, they did a good selection from the latest album “The Ghost You Gave To Me” and just about enough of the older material. Overall, 3’s set last night was undoubtedly one of the most powerful performances I’ve seen this year, and if you haven’t seen them live, you really need to. 3 is a one-of-a-kind band.
At 10.35, “Hieroglyph”, a 2-minute track from Cynic’s new EP, was played on the PA, as an intro to their set. The band appeared on stage, much to the audience’s delight, and after another short new track “Amidst The Coals”, they kicked off the set in true earnest with the track “Carbon-Based Anatomy” itself. It was sounding fantastic, even better than I had expected. But they didn’t go into the rest of the EP straightaway, and came back to it later in the set. I really liked that, because it made the new songs fit in seamlessly with the older material, rather than having it stick out by playing the whole thing all at once. It also kept the audience’s interest intact, and as a result the new songs were very well received. Judging from the reaction of this crowd, I get a feeling that the Cynic fans who have been turned off by Cynic’s new release in anyway whatsoever will change their opinion once they see it played live. Besides the title song, “Elves Beam Out” and “Box Up My Bones” also sounded excellent.
The new on-stage members Brandon Giffin and Max Phelps did their job to perfection, and I can safely say that no Cynic fan is going to be disappointed with this line-up in the live shows the band will do in the foreseeable future. Cynic’s stage set-up was very minimal, and the drum kit was just about the only visible piece of stationary equipment up on that stage. There were no amp-stacks and such, and the entire sound was running as a direct line. I think they were using the same kind of Fractal Axe-FX set up that bands like Periphery and Scale The Summit are using these days. This made the stage look bigger and more spacious than it normally does. Visuals were being projected in the background, to go with the music.
Aside from the music and the stage set-up, Paul’s interaction with the crowd was also an endearing aspect of the performance. At one point, he even made all of us do a yoga stretch. I had never seen that at a metal show before, and I’m pretty sure I won’t see it at any non-Cynic show in the future either. They ended the main set with “Box Up My Bones”, after which “Bija!”, the only remaining track from the new EP, was played on the PA. The band then reappeared to do “The Space For This” as an encore. This brought to an end a mesmerizing show by Cynic. They are always great live, but last night they proved that they get better every single time they play. With this new, more “home based” line-up of theirs, I expect more local shows from them, and if they continue to get better at this rate, one can only imagine how good those future shows would be.
On the whole, everyone in the crowd was satisfied with this show, not only with Cynic’s set but also with the two support acts, and for me, it was a pleasant change from the usual metal gigs I go to. Elegantly dressed musicians, an equally well-dressed audience, no moshing, flamenco-type guitars and yoga stretches made it a wonderful evening of mind-blowing music.
Rating: 10/10
Related: Cynic interview | 3 interview | Scale The Summit interview | Scale The Summit picture gallery
Setlist:
Hieroglyph
Amidst The Coals
Carbon-Based Anatomy
Evolutionary Sleeper
How Could I
Adam’s Murmur
Celestial Voyage
Elves Beam Out
King of Those Who Know
Veil of Maya
Wheels Within Wheels
Integral Birth
Box Up My Bones
Bija!
The Space For This
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