had many journalists curious at the time, since Death were emerging as an influential and popular act, but Masvidal persevered with Cynic. However, Masvidal returned to the Death fold replacing guitarist James Murphy for tour dates on the international Spiritual Healing tour in 1990. In 1991, Masvidal and fellow Cynic member Reinert were recruited by Death to record the "groundbreaking" Human. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine placed the album as the 70th greatest metal albums of all time. Human was Death's bestselling album, and was ranked number 82 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. Masvidal toured extensively for Human, in addition to appearing in the music video for "Lack of Comprehension", which debuted on MTV's Headbangers Ball. After fulfilling their obligations with Death, both Masvidal and Reinert returned to Cynic in 1992. In 2013, Masvidal joined forces with other original members of the Death Human line up and toured worldwide in honor of Chuck Schuldiner's legacy with the group DTA (Death to All). 1993 saw the release of the "progressive landmark" album, Focus on Roadrunner Records. Focus was listed in Rock Hard magazine's book as one of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. Loudwire writer Graham Hartmann named Focus the ninth best debut metal album of all time. Roadrunner released a reissue of Focus in 2004 as a special collector's edition due to high demand. Cynic took a 12-year hiatus in 1995 after recording "The Portal Tapes" demos. Masvidal moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 1996, upon being offered a full scholarship at Musicians Institute, where he also began work as a session musician and composer for network TV and film. Æon Spoke (1999–present) During Cynic's hiatus, Masvidal founded Æon Spoke, whose ethereal indie rock was heralded as "beautiful, exquisite [and] destined for greatness" by Janice Long, BBC Radio. In 2004, the band received airplay on BBC Radio 2 and XFM for the single "Silence". The following year, the track "Emmanuel" appeared in the indie breakout film What the Bleep Do We Know!? Æon Spoke songs have also appeared on the Warner Bros. television series Smallville, One Tree Hill and the motion picture Cry Wolf. Their self-titled debut LP was released in 2007 on SPV Records."Masvidal creates an air of loss, longing and bereavement which is unparalleled in the field. Even