The year 2020 will go down in history as a tremendously difficult time for the global human population. For the CYNIC family, 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.

 

Both of them, in the same year, nearly broke surviving member Paul Masvidal. But the seeds of a fourth CYNIC full-length existed long before the deaths, and the guitarist, through a haze of grief and disbelief, pushed forward. 

The album, paradoxically, acts as both swan song and rebirth. It is, throughout its 49 minutes, a vivid and highly cosmic journey into the very core of every impulse this band has ever explored.

After Reinert's exit from CYNIC in 2015, Masvidal and Malone recruited drummer Matt Lynch. Found through a tip from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME's Dan Briggs, Lynch proved to be a perfect addition to the band. 

But how to replace Sean Malone on bass? Masvidal's answer: don't even try. The lines of bass notes heard throughout "Ascension Codes" are performed on bass synthesizer by keyboardist Dave Mackay. A British pianist, writer, producer and Moog/vintage synth enthusiast, Mackay has toured with everyone from Art Garfunkel to Plini (the latter providing the initial introduction between Mackay and Masvidal).