Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany2nd September 2009
Cynic, The Intersphere
The 2nd September 2009 should be a special evening for music lovers, as the American Death Metal band CYNIC had announced to come to the Colos-Saal. CYNIC was founded in 1987 by Paul Masvidal (vocals, guitar) and Sean Reinert (keys, drums). After several demo recordings, the band released its debut album `Focus´ in 1993. Due to this long-player´s incredible virtuosity and the breathtaking soundscape, CYNIC was on everyone´s lips and thrilled its fans as well as its critics. Unfortunately, the formation broke up one year later which made it acquire a cult status in the Metal scene. When CYNIC decided to reunite and to go on tour, the fans jumped for joy and couldn´t wait to buy the second full-length album `Traced in Air´ (2008) which was highly praised again. Additionally, the quartet from Florida had been the support act of OPETH last year. http://www.myspace.com/cyniconline / http://www.cyniconline.com/
After a relaxed admission, I had a talk to some long-time fans who partly had travelled long distances to attend this concert. They were fascinated by the merchandise stand offering nice stuff for little money. Surprisingly, you could get a printed T-Shirt for only € 15. Therefore, more and more listeners queued up in front of the stand to get their shirts and sweaters. Finally, at 8 pm it was time for the Mannheim based support act THE INTERSPHERE.
The Intersphere
The Rock formation, consisting of Moritz Müller (drums), Christoph Hessler (vocals, guitar), Sebastian Wagner (bass) and Thomas Zipner (guitar), has been in the music business since 2005. Until recently, it has been known under the name HESSLERS. At the beginning of their career, the band members had qualified for the project “Bandpool” initiated by the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. With the support of “Bandpool”, they were able to go on tour in 2006. Followed up by a second tour two years ago, the debut album `SmallOnes Brainpain´ was released in November 2006. Furthermore, HESSLERS won the “Ringrocker”-contest and has already been part of the Rock am Ring line-up. This year, the formation decided to rename into THE INTERSPHERE, as the previous name didn´t match with their musical style anymore. Recently, the guys released a re-mastered version of their first album. http://www.myspace.com/theintersphere / http://www.theintersphere.com/
Music & Performance
I had been at concerts of this band twice before and therefore I knew how good they are due to the progressive orientated Rock songs and a splendid live performance. Thus, I was looking forward to THE INTERSPHERE that entered the stage just in time. Compared with the previous gigs, the soundscape had become even better and more varied. Front man Christoph sang the emotional pieces with his eyes closed and went wild while he was playing some hard guitar riffs. The other musicians also put their whole hearts into the sweaty show. They played all in all eight stunning songs captivating with an unrestrained joy of playing and a high musical quality level. Though most listeners had come to the Colos-Saal because of CYNIC, they seemed to be very fond of THE INTERSPHERE, as every song was rewarded with warm applause. And I was pleased by the catchy and at the same time complex pieces once again. To sum up: An impressive appearance of a highly talented formation!
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Prodigy Composers
03. Interspheres
04. Snapshot
05. Google Earth
06. Translate
07. Teardown
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 7.7 / 10
Cynic
After THE INTERSPHERE had finished the change over, the rather stage design wasn´t that impressive. But according to my experiences regarding the low-priced merchandise stuff, I should have known that less is more when you spend an evening at a CYNIC concert.
Music & Performance
Some minutes past 9 pm, the lights went off and a mystical intro prepared for the evening´s headliner. When Paul Masvidal (vocals, guitar), Sean Reinert (drums), Tymon (guitar, growls) and Robin Zielhorst (bass) walked to their instruments, they were welcomed like old and long missing friends. Although CYNIC is on tour right now, its concerts are rare events. This simple fact might have been a further reason for the euphoric reactions of the crowd. Before they began to play, the musicians placed a crumpled note (that turned out to be the setlist) on the floor. According to Paul´s announcement, the upcoming two hours should contain almost every song taken from the CYNIC albums. However, the band didn´t seem to play the pieces in the handwritten order. Therefore, I can´t guarantee the correctness of the order you will find at the end of this review.
The remarkably short guitars (without headstocks) caught my attention and I wondered how the guitarists are able to tune them, but this detail didn´t impact on the band´s virtuosity. Though CYNIC is often categorised under Death Metal and comes up with genre-typical growls, the songs convey a certain kind of poetry and meditation. That may sound paradoxical at first, but if you have ever listened to the intelligent and elegiac compositions, you will have an idea of what I try to describe. Each musician seemed to be a perfectly coordinated component of the forceful and stunning performance. I couldn´t even resent them the dimmed lights, as they contributed to an appropriate atmosphere. After the show, the CYNIC members turned out to be friendly and open-minded people taking time for the deeply impressed following. If you appreciate experimental and playful Metal, you shouldn´t miss this extraordinary formation.
Setlist
01. Nunc Fluens
02. The Space for this
03. Evolutionary Sleeper
04. Vail of Maya
05. Nunc Stans
06. The Eagle Nature
07. Celestial Voyage
08. Adam´s Murmur
09. Sentiment
10. The Unknown Guest
11. Textures
12. King of those who knew
13. Integral Birth
14. How could I
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 5
Total: 8.1 / 10
All pictures by Katrin Renner (http://www.creavision-webdesign.de/)
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