Well, this sucks. It looks like we might have seen the last of progressive metal/fusion band Cynic. The band, whose groundbreaking debut, 1993’s Focus, inspired countless other bands, took a 12-year hiatus before reforming in 2006. After a pair of albums, the band, founded by Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert, appears to be done again, judging from the below post that Reinert put up on Facebook. And what’s worse is that they’re disbanding in the middle of touring, and it doesn’t sound like it’s an amicable split. Here’s the post, which went up earlier today:
It is with a heavy heart that I post today’s CYNIC news. CYNIC is no longer an active band. Due to artistic and personal…
Posted by Cynic on Thursday, September 10, 2015
Initially forming in 1987, Cynic was one of the first bands to blend progressive metal and jazz fusion. After a stint with Death which saw Masvidal and Reinert play on the legendary Human album, the band released Focus before going on hiatus the following year. They got back together to release 2008’s Traced in Air and last year’s awesome Kindly Bent to Free Us. While it’s certainly a bummer that they appear to be done for now, at least we’ll get some solo stuff out of the members of the band, according to the Facebook post.
[UPDATED:] Apparently, we all knew since the morning about Cynic’s recent breakup except for Paul Masvidal and bassist Sean Malone, making that 2/3 of the band who still believed things were ok.
Masvidal took over Facebook and explained his understanding of the situation:
Dear fans and friends, this is all news to me. I just landed from Japan and my inbox was exploding. Sean didn’t confer with myself or Malone about Cynic’s official breakup or the tour being cancelled. I’m honestly somewhat relieved it’s finally over since it’s been quite challenging over the years but I’m also trying to figure out how to possibly salvage this tour (with a new drummer) since the damage he’s causing by pulling out at this last minute is inconceivable for me at the moment. Please share this message with friends or fans as Sean has taken me off our FB page so I can’t access it at the moment. Love to you all. I apologize for the drama…but sometimes life gets messy.
P.S. Cynic will continue one way or another.
On the other hand, Sean Reinert, who allegedly is the only one in control Cynic’s official Facebook page, released the following statement which was deleted a few minutes after being posted :
It’s safe to assume things are not going to end well between Reinert and Masvidal but, at least, there’s seems to be a future for Cynic once all this gets sorted out. As soon as we find out what happens, we will report on it.
[UPDATED 9-11:] Just as predicted, things are not going to be smooth with this whole split. This time, Reinert took over Facebook again to continue expressing his discontent with the band and giving his side of the story:
This is just getting more and more complicated and dramatic by the second. It’s obvious that Reinert have been struggling with this situation for quite a while and can’t seem to bring himself to discuss it with Masvidal or Malone to come to terms. It’s safe to assume Masvidal will issue a response to this as they seem to think discussing this matters via Facebook is the way to go and we will just keep you updated as soon as we know more.