Description
Black vinyl with gatefold cover and lyric insert
The NWOBHM act Cynic was formed in Worcestershire back in 1973 and their first demo was released in 1982 and it was followed up with the Suicide single in year after. It would take another 4 years before the world got another release and then in the shape of the Rebel Eye demo. The band then dissolved in the early 90s before they decided to reunite in 2003, bringing the old songs back to life. So came the summer of 2008 and the band finally released their debut album, Suburban Crisis. The album was a positively surprise. Not only because I like good heavy metal but this release had a loud sound of the guitar, solid bass, thundering drums, raw vocals, along with good song writing. The album has everything from solid heavy metal to melodic prog rock influences like old Rush. And speaking of Rush its worth mentioning that the cover artwork was done by Hugh Syme, the same guy that did all those Rush album covers and i must say that its a fantastic cover artwork. What differs the most from Cynics 80s demo and single is the change of vocals. The early material had a very clean singing while the current singer Shaun Grant has a more rough singing style. Grant however demonstrates that he can deliver a clean vocals too when needed, such as the beginning of Dark December, a song about the tragedy of losing a loved one. However its the rough vocals that sounds more characteristic for the band but i guess its just a matter of personal taste. However the best part of this album compared to the old material is the overall sound of the new album. With the better technique and the progression of the group it sounds much more professional compared to the old songs. For fans of the genre its worth checking out
Track listing:
1. Suicide-2006 recording of the 1983 single track
2. Ten Years From Now-2006 recording of the 1987 demo track
3. Dark December-previously unreleased
4. Suburban Crisis-previously unreleased
5. Faithless One-2006 recording of the 1982 demo track
6. Rebel Eye-2006 recording of the 1987 demo track
7. Do Or Die-2006 recording of the 1982 demo track
8. Eight Below-2006 recording of the 1982 demo track