TRACED IN AIR

On the last album, Cynic had more death metal, on this one, it's pretty much all gone. Traced in Air is their second studio album, right after Focus, which was their more death metal one. On Traced in Air, Cynic opts for a more melodic and progressive rock charged style of progressive metal, similar to Opeth and even some Porcupine Tree. I'll tell you this, Traced in Air is very good.

Focus was my first Cynic album. I haven't heard Focus in over a few eons, so my opinion on it isn't valid until I hear it again but I heard this album today and it was great. This album is different than Focus mainly because it has more melody and progressive rock to it. One thing I remember from Focus is the vocoder processed vocals, which are gone on this album, replaced by melodic clean singing. We still have Cookie Monster on this album though, so don't be too frightened by the changes made.

All I can say about this album is that it's a progressive metal classic. It's a classic because it has all the great progressive metal elements in it. Traced in Air is listenable for the regular progressive metal or rock fan who isn't into the heavier side of progressive metal, so it'll definitely please more people than Focus would. You'll have to listen to this yourself; trust me, it's pretty dang good. Essential progressive metal listening? Yes.