I've always admired CYNIC willingness to take chances by exploring other genres like Prog and Jazz. Their mind numbing debut album "Focus" released more than twenty years ago is still heralded as one of most innovative and influential albums in Death Metal.

Future releases, the "Traced in Air" album from 2008 and the following EPs "Re-Traced" (2010) and "Carbon-Based Anatomy" (2011) have witnessed the band distancing themselves from their death-metal origins and further embracing a more progressive and mellower approach, but still revealed a tremendous propensity to bend all the rules and break out their comfort zone.

New album, the aptly titled "Kindly Bent To Free Us" is undoubtedly the band's most mellow and Prog-influenced effort to date, and whether you'll enjoy or not, it really depends on what side of CYNIC you fancy the most. Those who look for the softer, progressive side of CYNIC will surely love it, but those who favor the more aggressive side of their early works will be hugely disappointed with "Kindly Bent To Free Us". As for me, I find it a bit bland with some songs really meandering around just a sterile exploration of dynamic and technical sounds, trying to create a gentle, emotive mood, but just end up sounding slightly boring.

I had hopes that the "Death To All" tours would somehow influence Mr. Sean Reinert and Mr. Paul Masvidal to craft a more heavy, aggressive record, but I guess the pair seems more focused on showing their technical prowess and wizardry.