After a tumultuous period in their career, US trio Cynic were dealt a double blow in 2020, when two core members tragically died. The remaining co-founder Paul Masvidal re-grouped, and re-emerged with the fourth Cynic album. In his only interview for the UK and European press, Masvidal tells Prog the full, troubled story of Ascension Codes.

Codebreaker: Dom Lawson

Rising above: Cynic co-founder and guardian of their galaxy, Paul Masvidal.

Portraits: Ekaterina Gorbacheva

The anticipation can be excruciating, but Cynic albums have always proved to be eminently worth the wait. Forged amid the saddest of circumstances, and yet one of the most uplifting records of 2021, latest album Ascension Codes is only the Americans’ fourth full-length in three decades. It arrives after the tragic loss of former drummer Sean Reinert and long-time bassist Sean Malone, both of whom passed away in 2020, with co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Paul Masvidal the band’s sole remaining original member and guardian of one of progressive music’s most unique sounds. As the California-based virtuoso tells Prog, Cynic records were always destined to be a rare commodity.

“It’s funny. Cynic was rooted in this idea that we would always put the music before anything, and never let the business rule our decision-making process,” says Masvidal. “But look what that led to, an album every seven years! [Laughs] But we were so stubborn as children, just committed to being great musicians and giving ourselves to the work, really straddling that line. There was probably also a component that had to do with our own terror of the business, and feeling rebellion against it. Somehow it stuck over the years.”