CYNIC: Final Summer Itinerary Revealed; Lineup Change Announced

The reunited CYNIC, whose 1993 album "Focus" is regarded as a landmark release in the field of technical/progressive metal, has lined up the following dates over the coming weeks:

Jun. 23 - Hellfest - Clisson Nantes, France
Jun. 24 - Graspop Metal Meeting - Dessel, Belgium
Jun. 25 - Dingwalls - London, England
Jun. 27 - Doornroosje - Nijmegen, Holland
Jun. 28 - 013 - Tilburg, Holland
Jun. 29 - Hovefestivalen - Arendal, Norway
Jul. 04 - Nachtleben - Frankfurt, Germany
Jul. 05 - Le Nouveau Casino - Paris, France
Jul. 06 - Bad Bonn - Düdingen, Switzerland
Jul. 07 - Evolution Fest - Florence, Italy
Jul. 09 - AN Live Club - Athens, Greece

In other news, CYNIC's Paul Masvidal (guitar, vocals) has released the following update to BLABBERMOUTH.NET regarding the band's current touring lineup:

"'Financially it wasn't feasible for Tony [Teegarden; vocals, keyboards] [to join us on the road] and therefore we couldn't bring him along, so we've made the best out of the situation and it's worked out well. We're using a 'Virtual Tony' computer streaming and it sounds really cool. We wanted it to sound as close to the album as possible.

"One of the concerns was giving Tony something to do when he wasn't singing brutals [brutal vocals] (which would have been 60-70% of the set) and now we can just be a four-piece with brutals coming from the ethers. It's pretty mysterious and interesting, and takes us further into experimental fusion metal band. With guitar synths, Mavis [recently added guitarist David 'Mavis' Senescu] and I can cover all the keyboard stuff and really tighten things up. We could have tried doing brutals ourselves but it wouldn't have done 'Focus' justice. If one of us could growl like that, we would have. It takes a unique kind of a vocal cord! We're all about re-creating the 'Focus' experience and now it's more accurate than ever. Mavis does an excellent quiet John Tardy."

Mavis is the son of legendary jazz trumpeter Bob Senescu, who was a touring member of the BUDDY RICH BIG BAND. He has also toured with the BEACH BOYS, among others. He was raised listening to Los Angeles' finest studio musicians at work.

CYNIC recently abandoned plans to utilize the services of AGHORA's Santiago Dobles for its upcoming tour. According to the band, "due to the commitment required for the reunion, it was mutually agreed that another guitar player would be better suited." The rest of the group's lineup will consist of Masvidal, Sean Reinert (drums),and Chris Kringel (bass).

Kringel, who replaces Sean Malone (who can't participate in the reunion because of teaching and work commitments) in CYNIC's reunion lineup, has been involved with the band since the pre-"Focus" days and toured with the band in Europe in support of the CD. He also played bass on the classic and much-sought-after PORTAL demos and toured the U.K. with Paul and Sean's AEON SPOKE project.

According to Masvidal, guitarist Jason Gobel was approached about participating in the reunion, but was forced to turn it down due to family and work commitments. However, he gave the rest of the group his blessings to proceed.