EXIVIOUS — Exivious (review)

EXIVIOUS — Exivious album cover Album · 2009 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
Phonebook Eater
Exivious is a “Fusion Metal” instrumental band formed by members of both legendary death metal band Cynic and prog metal band Textures. It seems that they are currently on hiatus, and so far the only album they put together is this self titled debut. I saw all the infinite praises they gave to this album, but I have to admit that I’m disappointed by it.

One thing no one can deny, by listening to this album, how excellently prepared these musicians are; especially the rhythm section, with jazz influenced drummer Stef Broks, the virtuos bass player Robin Zeilhorst, with his amazing fretless bass that enriches the music, a style that is obviously inspired by legend Jaco Pastorius. The guitars are also phenomenal, thanks to Cynic guitarist Tymon Kruidenier, with also Michel Nienhuis from Sengaia; thanks to them the riffs are extremely complex and technical, and when they play the slower parts they have a much jazzier touch.

Since this features members that all come from prog metal bands, the main style of the album is of course this genre, but what makes it really original is the surprisingly massive fusion and math metal influences. The rhythms are very fast and esoteric, the melodies very challenging to listen to, because of the guitars, and even the bass at times. The production is clean, the mixing is perfect, so what is wrong with this debut? First of all, I noticed that this album has a weak structure: It sounds a lot like a cluster of songs that frankly have all a similar structure, and they kind of sound all the same, so I’m not really understanding the philosophy of this organization. The only thing that makes the album a little more solid is the presence of the two parts of “All That Surrounds”, and both parts are very similar even melodically. Also, some songs turn me off, just for the fact that they aren’t at all memorable or hardly have any emotion or attitude, and so I forgot about them pretty quickly. It sound just like a few musicians just jamming for 44 minutes, with most definitely some very good ideas that come along. I don’t deny that many parts are mind blowing, like the entire opener “Ripple Of A Tear”, or even the next track, “Time And It’s Changes”, but other songs just aren’t as good, said in a much more simple way. Another one of my favorites is the closing piece “An Elusive Need”, with just great musicianship, especially from the guitars.

An album that I partially enjoyed, but didn’t light my day in a particular way. “Exivious” is most definitely an ambitious project, but they really should try to put a little more feeling to the songs (please keep in mind that I’m a huge prog metal fan, and that I don’t mind technical virtuosity at all, if used correctly). If you’re a big fan of this genre, you should check this out, but don’t expect too much from it.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

A Sonication Technical Death Metal
OBSCURA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 6 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 6 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 6 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 6 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 6 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed