Carbon-Based Anatomy is an EP by the avant-garde metal band Cynic

Cynic (band)

Cynic is an American progressive rock band, incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements, founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of...

. It was released through Season of Mist

Season of Mist

Season of Mist is a record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pagan metal and death metal records, the label moved on to releasing...

 on 11 November 2011.

History

Carbon-Based Anatomy EP is composed of six previously unheard tracks. However, the song "Carbon-Based Anatomy" is a reinterpretation of an older unreleased Æon Spoke

Æon Spoke

Æon Spoke is an alternative rock band from Los Angeles. It was created by members of Cynic and former members of Death, Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert, when they relocated from Miami to Los Angeles....

 single, "Homosapien". This was also done on Cynic's last LP, Traced In Air

Traced in Air

Traced in Air is the second full-length album by the progressive metal band Cynic. It is the first album since their 1993 debut Focus.-History:Cynic disbanded during the fall of 1994 while working on a new album...

, as the track "Integral Birth" was an interpretation of Æon Spoke's "When Sunrise Skirts the Moor."
The artwork was done by Roberto E. Venosa, the artist who was responsible for all previous Cynic artworks. Venosa died shortly before the release of Carbon-Based Anatomy.

Three of six tracks are short, ambient-oriented pieces ("Amidst the Coals", "Bija!", and "Hieroglyph"), and represent an unprecedented musical direction for Cynic. Since the two previous full-time band members, Tymon Kruidenier

Tymon Kruidenier

Tymon Kruidenier is a Dutch guitarist. He became well known in the world of metal, being a member of the technical death metal band Cynic from 2008-2010.-Biography:...

 and Robin Zielhorst

Robin Zielhorst

Robin Zielhorst is a Dutch bass player, and a current bassist of the Dutch fusion-metal band Exivious. He is also well known for his work in Cynic.-Biography:...

, left the band, all guitar parts for this EP were recorded by Paul Masvidal. Bass parts were composed and recorded by Sean Malone

Sean Malone

Sean Malone is an American musician who plays primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman stick. However, Malone also plays piano, keyboards, and guitar. He is most well known as a member of the progressive band Cynic.- Biography :...

, who had recorded on every Cynic release up to date, except for 2010's Re-Traced

Re-Traced

Re-Traced is an EP by the technical metal band Cynic. It is composed of four re-interpretations of songs from their album Traced in Air, as well as one new song. It was released through Season of Mist on May 17.-History:...

.

Track listing

1. "Amidst the Coals" – 2:11
2. "Carbon-Based Anatomy" – 6:24
3. "Bija!" – 2:27
4. "Box Up My Bones" – 5:32
5. "Elves Beam Out" – 3:59
6. "Hieroglyph" - 2:28

Line-up

• Paul Masvidal
  Paul Masvidal
  Paul Albert Masvidal is the guitarist, singer and a founding member of the progressive band Cynic and previously led the alternative rock band Æon Spoke. Born in Puerto Rico, Masvidal grew up in Miami, Florida and currently resides in Los Angeles...
  
   – vocals, guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , guitar synth
• Sean Reinert
  Sean Reinert
  Sean Reinert is the drummer of Cynic and Æon Spoke. He is known for his technical, original and creative drumming technique....
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion, keyboards
• Sean Malone
  Sean Malone
  Sean Malone is an American musician who plays primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman stick. However, Malone also plays piano, keyboards, and guitar. He is most well known as a member of the progressive band Cynic.- Biography :...
  
   – bass
• Amy Correia
  Amy Correia
  Amy Correia is an American singer and songwriter who grew up in Lakeville, Ma.Correia lived in New York’s Chinatown after graduating from Barnard College. She worked in advertising, writing copy by day, while at night honing her songwriting and performing in clubs like Sin-é Cafe on the lower east...
  
   – female vocals
• John Hiler – mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  , engineering
• Maor Appelbaum – mastering engineer
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...