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Artist
Masvidal
12+ albums
acousticrockambientProgressive rocksinger-songwriter
about
Paul Masvidal is best known as co-founder and frontman of Cynic, the critically acclaimed progressive rock group with a fanatically devoted following. Masvidal's professional career began in 1991 when he was recruited by Death's Chuck Schuldiner to record that band's landmark death-metal album, Human. Two years later saw the release of Cynic's self-assured debut – Focus. Heralded by critics and fans alike as a work of dizzying brilliance, Focus wove elements of metal, progressive rock and jazz fusion into a bold new sound that challenged listeners as it defied genre restrictions. The group reunited in 2008 after a 13-year break to record Traced In Air, their comeback opus. In his review, New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff wrote that Cynic "should be understood not so much alongside any metal bands but along with the radical harmonic progressives in the last 45 years of pop and jazz: composers like Milton Nascimento, the Beach Boys or Pat Metheny." During the band's hiatus, Masvidal founded Æon Spoke, whose ethereal indie rock was heralded as "beautiful, exquisite destined for greatness" by Janice Long, BBC Radio. In 2004, the band received airplay on BBC Radio 2 and XFM for the single "Silence." The following year, the track "Emmanuel" appeared in the indie breakout film, What the Bleep Do We Know!?. Æon Spoke songs have also appeared on the Warner Bros. television series Smallville, One Tree Hill and in the motion picture Cry Wolf. Their self-titled debut LP came out
