Jazz fusion is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyboards that were popular in rock and roll started to be used by jazz musicians, particularly those who had grown up listening to rock and roll.
Death was an American death metal band formed in Altamonte Springs, Florida in 1984 by guitarist and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner. Death is considered to be among the most influential bands in heavy metal and a pioneering force in the extreme metal subgenre of death metal. The band's debut album, Scream Bloody Gore, has been widely regarded as one of the first death metal records, alongside the first records from Possessed and Necrophagia.
Sean Reinert was an American musician, songwriter and drummer of Æon Spoke. He was also the drummer and founding member of Cynic, until leaving the band in September 2015. He credited drummers Dave Miranda, John Bonham, Dave Weckl, Gary Husband and Vinnie Colaiuta as being important influences during his formative years.
Sean Malone was an American musician who played primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman Stick. However, Malone also played piano, keyboards, and guitar. Malone did a number of session jobs for various bands and musicians. He was most famous for his work in American band Cynic, in which he developed a strong partnership with the drummer Sean Reinert. Malone and Reinert played on several records together outside Cynic, making them one of the most favorable modern progressive rhythm sections.
Human is the fourth studio album by American death metal band Death, released on October 22, 1991, by Relativity Records. The album marked the beginning of a major stylistic change for Death, being more technically complex and progressive than the band's previous efforts. The lyrics are more introspective when compared to the gore-based lyrics of Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy or the social commentary on Spiritual Healing. This new style would continue to evolve on all following Death albums. This is the only album to feature Cynic members Paul Masvidal on guitars and Sean Reinert on drums, both only 20 at that time, and the first to feature bassist Steve DiGiorgio.
Paul Albert Masvidal is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. He is the guitarist, singer, and a founding member of the band Cynic. He has remained a continual member in Cynic for nearly three decades, and he has developed numerous other projects including Æon Spoke, Onward with Love, and Masvidal. Masvidal was ranked in Loudwire's 66 Best Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time and 50 Best Metal Songwriters of All Time.
Focus is the debut studio album by Cynic, released September 14, 1993 through Roadrunner Records. A remastered version of the album was released in 2004.
Spastic Ink was a progressive metal band from the United States.
Aghora is a progressive metal band formed in 1995 by guitarist Santiago Dobles. In 2000 they released their first album, Aghora, recorded and produced by Santiago Dobles and Dan Escauriza in 1999, Miami, Florida. The album featured Sean Malone and Sean Reinert, both members of Cynic. The band released its second album, Formless in 2006, which was produced by Santiago Dobles and mixed by Neil Kernon. in 2019 Aghora released their 3rd album Entheogenic Frequencies which was recorded, mixed and produced by Santiago Dobles. The album features Gustavo Dobles on keyboards, Matt Thompson on drums, Alan Goldstein on bass, and Santiago Dobles on guitar.
Gordian Knot was an American rock band directed by bass guitarist Sean Malone. At times its shifting lineup included Steve Hackett of Genesis, Bill Bruford of King Crimson and Yes, Ron Jarzombek from Watchtower and Spastic Ink, as well as Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, several of Malone's former bandmates from Cynic, and John Myung from Dream Theater. Sean Malone died on December 7, 2020.
Gordian Knot is the debut album of Sean Malone's progressive rock project of the same name.
Emergent is the second and last album by American progressive rock band Gordian Knot, and is the only album apart from Focus to contain all original members of Cynic.
Transitions is a collection of demo songs that eventually became the bulk of the self-titled debut album by progressive metal band Aghora, released in March, 2006.
Formless is the second album from progressive metal band Aghora, released in December, 2006.
Cynic is an American progressive metal band formed in Miami, Florida in 1987 and later re-formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007, where the sole surviving member, Paul Masvidal remains to this day. Cynic incorporates elements of progressive rock, alternative, and metal. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of the progressive metal genre. Cynic disbanded in 1994, but they reunited in 2006 and released their second album on November 17, 2008. Traced in Air was released through French label Season of Mist, followed up by an EP titled Re-Traced on May 18, 2010 and an EP titled Carbon-Based Anatomy on November 11, 2011. Their third studio album, Kindly Bent to Free Us, was released on February 14, 2014. In December 2017, after two years of an uncertain future, founding member Sean Reinert confirmed his split from Cynic. Reinert died at the age of 48 on January 24, 2020. Longtime Cynic bass player, Sean Malone, died at the age of 50 eleven months later, leaving Masvidal as the only remaining original core member.
Traced in Air is the second studio album by the progressive metal band Cynic. It is the first album since their 1993 debut Focus.
Working Man: A Tribute to Rush is a tribute album to progressive rock band Rush recorded by various artists and released on Magna Carta Records in 1996. The album was mixed by original Rush producer Terry Brown at Town Music Studios in Toronto, Canada. Mike Portnoy was the main creative consultant.
Re-Traced is an EP by the technical metal band Cynic. It is composed of four re-interpretations of songs from their album Traced in Air, as well as one new song. It was released through Season of Mist on May 17.
Carbon-Based Anatomy is an EP by the experimental metal band Cynic. It was released through Season of Mist on 11 November 2011.
Kindly Bent to Free Us is the third studio album by the progressive metal band Cynic. It was released on February 18, 2014, and is the final Cynic album with Sean Reinert, who left the band in September 2015 and died on January 24, 2020, as well as the final Cynic album with Sean Malone, who died on December 9, 2020.
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