FOCUS

Arguably one of the most overlooked influential bands of the progressive metal movement is Cynic and their album Focus, which was unfortunately the only album this group would produce. The fretless bass gives an added texture to the often "spacey futuristic" sounding themes in a majority of the tracks, credit to the distorted vocals and tone of most of the softer jazz passages.

There is no track in particular to me that stands out. All follow along similar guidelines giving the songs a connection and wholeness to the majority of the album. Most of this has a very technical sound to it as well I have found (although never seemingly going overboard into solo wankery context) similar perhaps to the complex riffs of Watchtower, but with more of a death metal space/jazz vibe. Urobic Forms is perhaps the most "metal" of all the tracks, with many staples of the genre in its structure.

If I were to consider something for those who are in disfavor of metal, Textures comes to mind, with it's interesting and complex arrangement (although their are still some parts with a heavily distorted guitar). As a side note, this record is also fairly valuable, as it is difficult to find, though maybe not quite as *kvlt* as it's often considered. Not particularly moving or emotional music, but it is an extremely complex and interesting way of approaching the "death-metal" movement.

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