Progressive rock legendCYNICwill be releasing its highly-anticipated new full-length, 'Ascension Codes,' on November 26 via Season of Mist! 'AscensionCodes'is a remarkably far-reaching work, and if nothing else, a clear indication that they have landed in a place of mastery.The album, paradoxically, acts as both swan song and rebirth. The band is now sharing the mind-bending first single, "Mythical Serpents," which can be heard via the official Season of Mist YouTube channelHERE.

CYNICmastermind Paul Masvidal comments: "I invite you to sit back, close your eyes, and listen to 'Mythical Serpents' as a fully realized piece of music. No phones or screens necessary, just the power of sound communicating directly into the ears of your heart. In the coming weeks, Cynic will be revealing further details on the constellation thatis 'Ascension Codes', including a 'Mythical Serpents' animated video, featuring the artwork of Martina Hoffmann & Robert Venosa. Stay tuned."

Michael Berberian, president and founder of Season of Mist, adds: "I have, by now, released close to one thousand albums. None have been more dramatic, none have even been more difficult than this one. I can't listen to Ascension Codes without goose bumps, a mixed feeling of pride ' because it's a musical milestone, but it also contains a lingering layer of sadness. I hear Paul's pain on this record. I can feel it, I can touch it. But it's transcended. 'Art is to console those who are broken by life,' said Van Gogh. Here is a demonstration of that."

Pre-orders are now live via Season of MistHEREor via the official Cynic shopHERE.

When clicked, this video is loaded from YouTube servers. See our privacy policy for details.

CYNIChave furthermore unveiled the artwork for 'Ascension Codes', which has beencreated by Martina Hoffmann. The covercan now be viewed together with the album details below.

Track-list
1. Mu-54* (0:32)
2. The Winged Ones (5:08)
3. A'-va432 (0:28)
4. Elements and their Inhabitants (3:09)
5. Ha-144 (0:30)
6.Mythical Serpents(6:24)
7. Sha48* (0:19)
8. 6th Dimensional Archetype (4:07)
9. DNA Activation Template (5:25)
10. Shar-216 (0:23)
11. Architects of Consciousness (6:20)
12. DA'z-a86.4 (0:34)
13. Aurora (4:34)
14. DU-*61.714285 (0:30)
15. In a Multiverse Where Atoms Sing (3:48)
16. A'jha108 (0:28)
17. Diamond Light Body (5:43)
18. Ec-ka72 (0:47)

CYNIC's continual state of development has met its share of challenges over the years, hurdles that threatened to dismantle the entity's forward surge. Yet through hurricanes, breakups, and assorted acrimony both personal and existential, it remains inspired to create. Their name is synonymous with what it means to be truly progressive in music.CYNIC's top-tier performance acumen and cerebral/spiritual/yogic themes finds them inhabiting a corner of the musical spectrum all their own. Their Venn diagram shows intersections with death metal, prog rock, thrash metal, experimental, new age, jazz fusion, and a myriad of other sonic expressions!

Debut album, Focus (1993), is a certified classic. Although that era ended with transformation into the short-lived Portal, and then a further splinter toward Aeon Spoke,CYNIC's reunion-era has found them embraced in a way that proves how ahead of the times they were in the '90s. Through monuments such as the Traced in Air (2008) and Kindly Bent to Free Us (2014) albums, the Carbon-Based Anatomy and Re-Traced EPs, and a surprising rebirth with the "Humanoid" single of 2018, theCYNIClegacy remains untarnished. Yet early in the creation cycle for their fourth full-length album, they experienced horrible events that tested the entity's resolve.

The year 2020 will go down in history as a tremendously difficult time for the global human population. For theCYNICfamily, the struggle was not restricted to a pandemic. It was two utterly senseless losses that threw the band's immediate concerns into the background: the premature deaths of drummer Sean Reinert in January, at age 48, and bassist Sean Malone in December, at age 50, were shocking and unthinkable. Reinert, a foundingCYNICmember since formation in 1988, was highly influential to a multitude of young drummers. His work on 1993's Focus and Death's watershed 1991 album, Human, found him sculpting extreme technical metal with a jazz fusion-inspired approach. Now taken for granted, that approach to the instrument and the genre was undoubtedly pioneered in large part by Reinert. Though parting withCYNICin 2015, his imprint onCYNICis inescapable. The death of Sean Malone dealt another horrible layer of tragedy toCYNIC's 2020.

As of 2021, the future ofCYNICis unclear. Does Ascension Codes mark their final phase of growth? Surely the music finds them laying out a most ambitious trail of spiritual sonic travel, but to call anyCYNICalbum "ambitious" is redundant. They are, by their very nature, an ambitious band. Yet Ascension Codes is a remarkably far-reaching work. Its nine main songs are infused with explosions of color and energy! The struggle to attain ascension is as important as ascension itself. And after much searching,CYNIChave again achieved oneness with the numinous. At a time of possible exit for the entity, Ascension Codes isCYNICreaching a previously-unknown state of enlightenment!

Recording line-up:
Paul Masvidal - Guitars, vocals, lyrics
Dave Mackay - Bass synthesizer, keyboards
Matt Lynch ' Drumscapes

Producers: Paul Masvidal / Warren Riker
Mixer: Warren Riker
Mastering studio and engineer: Georgetown Masters / Andrew Mendelson

Guest musicians:
Guitar Codes Artifacts: Dark
Voice Code Activations: Anrita Melchizedek
Reptilian Collective: Max Phelps
TWO Soloscape: Plini
Crystal Bowl Attunements: Michael Devin
Light Language Teachers: Amy Correia ^ Joshua Leon
DLB MetaTerrestrial: Ezekial Kaplan

Cover artwork artist: The Landing ^ Triptych ^ Martina Hoffmann
Photographer: Katerina Gorbacheva bxw

Links:
https://www.instagram.com/cynic_official
https://www.facebook.com/Cynicofficialpage
https://www.youtube.com/cynicdocumentary
https://cyniconline.com
https://www.instagram.com/paulmasvidal
https://www.facebook.com/paulmasvidal
https://masvidalien.com