Cynic was formed in November of 1987 by guitarist/vocals Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert.  Starting off as a band only making brutal death metal, many members went through this band (of course with Paul and Sean remaining the constants).  Through the changes, there did emerge a "Classic" Cynic Lineup: Paul and Sean, with Jason Gobel on guitar (every great death metal band has 2 guitarists!) and Sean Malone on bass.  This is the lineup that recorded their one and only release on Roadrunner Records, FOCUS .

1987 is when they formed, and 1993 is when FOCUS was released on Roadrunner.   Want to know about all the years in between?  I will throw you a couple website addresses at the end where you can read all about it.  However, I will throw out a couple facts:  Cynic was basically brought to Roadrunner due to a demo they recorded which was produced by Scott Burns (Scott actually produced quite a few of the Florida, underground thrash metal bands in the scene and ended up producing the FOCUS LP), and did you know that Hurricane Andrew had a hand in the FOCUS recording?  When Cynic was rehearsing for their Roadrunner release in Miami, the hurricane struck and completely destroyed their rehearsal space and equipment, and also leveled Jason's house.  Consider this an interruption?  Actually no!  According to Paul this was a blessing, giving the band a chance to work on all details of the record. 

After FOCUS was released on Roadrunner and the band toured in the states and overseas, they did go back and started writing a second album.  They wrote and recorded about eight songs, but they were completely different from what people came to know of Cynic.  The songs were "much dreamier, not as abrasive as FOCUS," tells Jason.  Apparently the band still someday thinks of releasing these songs, but under a different name, as these tracks are not pure Cynic.  They actually started calling the band 'Portal' and 'Aeon Spoke' during these writing sessions.

So why only the one album for Cynic?  Simple, the band broke up...It became apparent during the writing process for the 2nd LP that all members were going in different directions sonically.  As Jason tells, the band was full of 4 strong headed individuals, and that the one album they had was the only time the band could fully come together.  Not only were they moving apart musically, but moving apart physically.

July 24, 1994 marked CYNIC's last show.  In an email dated August 22, 1996, Sean Malone states "Cynic hasn't been Cynic for over 2 years now..."

Associated with bands such as DEATH, PESTILENCE, ATHEIST, MASTER, MONSTROCITY, VIOGRESSION, & CANNIBAL CORPSE, Cynic and its members have a place in death metal history.  Actually quite a unique place, with their progressive nature.  They were a very influential death metal band whose music still effects bands today.  So where can they be found now?

Jason and Sean Malone both moved to Oregon, but not together.  Jason moved because he needed to get out of Miami, and he had family in Oregon.  Sean M. moved there for the purposes of school.  Coincidentally, they both moved to the same town and actually still play together outside of their work.  As Paul tells, Sean M. is a professor at The University of Oregon, teaching music theory, and Jason is now a family man, married and working for a family business.

Paul moved to LA, to be a part of a bigger music scene and to pursue music further.  In fact, his whole life is still music, he works as a writer in many avenues; he has written music for Discovery Channel specials, X-File episodes, and even for the band BERLIN.

Sean Reinert stayed in Florida for a couple years and then moved out to LA, actually for the reason to play with Paul again.  He now makes his honest living as an engineer for Capitol Mastering.

These four former CYNIC members are still making music, together actually in somewhat of an inbred fashion!  Sean M.'s current project is a jazz fusion act named GORDIAN KNOT in which Jason, who also lives in Oregon, plays guitar, and Sean R. comes in and plays some drums. 

Paul's current project is a band called AEON SPOKE (loosely translated 'Eternal Voice' - and yes, same band name as CYNIC once used when recording the follow up to FOCUS ), in which Sean R. is also the drummer.  They just started gigging in LA over the past month, have about 30 songs recorded, and are currently shopping around a four song demo.

As described by Sean R, "Aeon Spoke is closest resembling band like Sparklehorse, Radiohead, Remy Zero, Kent.  It's an Emo-Rock sound with an emphasis on good songwriting."  As Paul says, "(AEON SPOKE) is very song oriented, all about the melody and aggressive at times."

Whatever you describe the members' current projects as, AEON SPOKE and GORDIAN KNOT are top notch musically.  I will give you info on how to hear these bands later, but without further waiting, here is the entire FOCUS LP which was released on September 14, 1993 and deleted from our catalog on January 31, 1998.