US progressive rockers Cynic have released a new video for Diamond Light Body, which you can watch below. It's taken from the band's latest album Ascension Codes, which was released on Friday through Seasons Of Mist.
Given the circumstances under which the album was recorded, including the departure of original drummer Sean Reinart in 2015, and the subsequent death of Reinart and Cynic bass player Sean Malone in 2020, there has been some speculation as tio the future of the band. Guitarist and singer Paul Masivdal hasn't been conducting many interviews but Prog will run and exclusive interview with him in the new year.
In the mean time Masvidal has been talking about keyboard player who performed bass synthesiser by keyboardist Dave Mackay. A British pianist, writer, producer and Moog/vintage synth enthusiast, Mackay has toured with everyone from Art Garfunkel to Plini (the latter providing the initial introduction between Mackay and Masvidal). Matt Lynch provides the drums on the new record.
“He's got a vast jazz harmonic vocabulary,” notes Masvidal, “which is what's needed in the context of Cynic's music, especially for bass lines. I knew that I could never replace Malone. Anyone I would find would be expected to play like him, and that's not fair to another musician. And things were too fresh for me with the loss of Malone, so I had to go somewhere new. With Mackay, I heard his groovy left-hand approach, and how musical he was across the board having played with a variety of musicians and styles. I realized he would bring something fresh to the table, and he provided a space for me to start again with a completely different instrument and forgo any traditional ideas I had about what Cynic bass lines should sound like."
Ascension Codes was mixed and co-produced by Warren Riker, who worked with Aeon Spoke, Cynic in the Traced in Air era, and mixed Paul Masvidal’s solo acoustic trilogy. “Riker’s a wizard who gets inside the music and commits. He expands boundaries as a mixer, always finding new ways to push the sonic envelope,” says Masvidal.
