Sean Landon Reinert (May 27, 1971 – January 24, 2020) was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Æon Spoke and the drummer and cofounder of the progressive metal band Cynic along with Paul Masvidal until leaving the band in September 2015.[1]
Career
In 1991, Reinert and Paul Masvidal (also of Cynic) joined the band Death to record the Human album. This album is seen by many as the start of the technical death metal genre. After touring with Death, he returned to Cynic.
1993 saw the release of Focus (regarded as a landmark release in the field of technical/progressive metal) on the Roadrunner Records label. Roadrunner re-released it in 2005 as a special collector's edition due to high demand. After Cynic's disbandment Reinert had been a member of the Cynic spin-off band Portal which released a demo but eventually disbanded. Having relocated to Los Angeles, Reinert continued working with music by writing and performing for television shows and motion pictures.
In 1999, Reinert helped form Æon Spoke alongside Masvidal, which is described as an "ethereal rock" band.[2] The band saw releases in 2004 and 2007, receiving national and satellite airplay, performing, hosting radio appearances, and even appearing on television show and motion picture soundtracks.
During this time in 2006, it was announced that Cynic would reform for a tour which took place in the summer of 2007. The reformed lineup then recorded a follow-up to Focus entitled Traced in Air, which was released in 2008 and followed by more touring. In 2009, a new EP with Cynic was recorded scheduled for release in May 2010.
As of May 2014, he publicly revealed his homosexuality along with fellow Cynic member Paul Masvidal.[3]
^Bender, Frank (March 22, 2009). "Peter Wildoer – Exclusive Interview". www.onlinedrummer.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2017. [...] The three most important death metal albums to me are Atheist Piece of time,' Death Human,' and, a bit later, Cynic Focus. These three records changed me, fundamentally. [...] I guess the biggest impact on me ever was when I saw 'Lack of Comprehension' with Death on MTV's Headbangers Ball some weeks before the album was released. When the part came where you can see Sean Reinert – to me the best contemporary metal drummer ever – from above playing the ride cymbal, hi hat bell, and double bass drums at the same time, I was so blown away by that sound that I watched it probably a hundred times that day, because I had recorded it on VHS. Since that day, I've been using that ride/bell sound a lot, ha ha! [...]
^"Peter Wildoer". sickdrummermagazine.com. September 12, 2007. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017. Sean Reinert – He's just my biggest influence [...] He's got the perfect balance between musicality, technique and personality. Cynic's Focus CD is one of my all time favourite CDs of all kind. I saw a video from this past summer (2007) with Cynic performing live in Norway, amazing. I do hope they release it on DVD!
^Lee, Cosmo (November 19, 2010). "Interview: Gene Hoglan". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017. Gene Hoglan: Since I didn't have to write anything [in Death] – Chuck wrote the music, Chuck wrote the lyrics, I merely transposed a few things – that left me a lot of time to hone my skills as a drummer. Sean Reinert's amazing performance on the Human album laid the groundwork for the future of Death – and the future of death metal, really. He was such an influential player [on] my term with Death because Sean brought a lot of the fusion, the prog, the outer layers of drumming that we were all listening to. [...]
^Kluitman, Kees (November 2002). ""T-Back" and the Zappa-effect". www.emptywords.org. Archived from the original on December 20, 2002. Retrieved July 14, 2017. Q: Who are you influenced by? Richard Christy: Bobby Jarzombek, Shannon Larkin, Rick Colaluca, Terry Bozzio, Sean Reinert, [...] I have been a Death fan for about twelve years now and I am a big fan of Sean Reinert and Gene Hoglan. I think they are two of the greatest drummers in music so it was a lot of pressure to play in Death, and it is a great honor to have followed in their footsteps.
^"ARTIST INTERVIEW | Dirk Verbeuren". www.tama.com. Tama Drums. May 28, 2008. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017. [...] Sean Reinert (of Death and Cynic) had a huge impact on my way of perceiving metal drumming. He was one of the first to enrich death/thrash beats with distinct jazz/fusion elements. [...]
^"Chris Pennie". sickdrummermagazine.com. August 30, 2006. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^"George Kollias". sickdrummermagazine.com. August 28, 2006. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^"John Merryman". sickdrummermagazine.com. September 9, 2007. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^Smart, Noel (September 2013). "SDM Cover feature | Elliot Hoffman". www.sickdrummermagazine.com. p. 47. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
^"Evan Sammons". sickdrummermagazine.com. November 9, 2010. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^"The Downbeat Podcast - Mario Duplantier (GOJIRA)", March 3, 2023, retrieved December 9, 2023 "I has been influenced by Abe Cunningham; Pete Sandoval [...]; Gene Hoglan; Sean Reinert. [...]" Mario Duplantier to Craig Reynolds on The Downbeat Podcast
^"Hannes Grossmann". sickdrummermagazine.com. July 29, 2007. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^"Dan Presland". sickdrummermagazine.com. June 16, 2009. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
^Borders, Denise (June 18, 2011). "Top 10 Drummers: Intronaut". punkworldviews.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
