Style: Technical death metal, progressive death metal (mostly harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Faceless, Obscura, Beyond Creation, The Zenith Passage
Country: Colorado, United States
Release date: 22 November 2024
I love extreme music, sure. But I still get a slight urge to roll my eyes when met with yet another sci-fi-themed tech death band—especially one whose debut album runs nearly an hour and is part one of what will evidently be a series. In a saturated subgenre of a subgenre, could it possibly live up to its intended musical grandeur? Well, actually, yeah… I’d say it does.
Exuvial is a Denver-based progressive and technical death metal band, and we know Denver is a breeding ground for boundary-pushing music: Blood Incantation’s spacey old-school death metal, Wayfarer’s Western-tinged black metal, tech death veterans Vale of Pnath, and so many others. Exuvial’s debut album, The Hive Mind Chronicles, Pt. 1: Parasitica (we’ll call it Hive Mind Pt. 1), fits right into the scene. Hive Mind Pt. 1 has a beefy, progressive metal frame—a generous runtime, space for instrumental and dynamic passages, and an ambitious concept and vision—that’s filled out with well-executed tech death.
Beginning with a four-part track spanning just short of twenty minutes, Hive Mind Pt. 1 reels you in with a few piano flourishes and chords, and then bashes you over the head with big, chunky riffing. Exuvial seems hellbent on touching every corner of the current tech death landscape. In short order, the band checks off modern tropes like glitchy rhythms, off-kilter riffs with a huge bottom end, noodly leads with complementing bass fills, and obligatory, heavily-effected clean vocals scattered along the way. But Hive Mind Pt. 1 doesn’t sound like a collection of songs that just enthusiastically emulate what’s in vogue. Each track, and indeed the album as a whole, unfolds in a way that sounds deliberate and coherent, even if sometimes predictable.
As the four-part opener progresses, Exuvial shows off the band’s dynamic songwriting: frenetic riffs winding their way to massive, head-bangable resolutions (the final minute and a half of “Convergent Evolution”); a slower, atmospheric bridge driven by a locked-in rhythm section (the center of “Advent of Segmentation”); and, generally, a deft mixture of elements that makes the music both overtly melodic and crushingly heavy (evident in all of “Neural Convolution”). The rest of the album follows suit, never straying far from the opener’s formula or venturing much beyond the bounds of modern tech death. But it’s a formula that works—and the stellar performances and few surprises peppered throughout are enough to keep engagement high. The album’s top-notch production, being bright but not sterile and heavy but not muddy, helps further ensnare the listener.
As strong as it is, Hive Mind Pt. 1 doesn’t escape some of tech death’s common pitfalls. The album is not terribly unique or innovative, especially vocally; and the tracks aren’t always easy to distinguish from one another. While all enjoyable in their own right, much of “Holometabolous,” “Parasitica,” and the first half of “Necrotic Dissolution” lack a distinct identity. But the album does deliver some true stand-out moments: a highlight is the infectiously groovy riff smack in the middle of “Autonomic Awakening,” which the band builds upon and then exits perfectly into a fantastic set of melodic passages. The progressive, almost doomy “Subterranean Swarm” is another welcome change-up—although the track spends some of its time in territory that’s maybe too familiar.
Defying my knee-jerk expectations, Exuvial’s debut justifies its runtime and ambitious concept. The album might not set the progressive or tech death worlds on fire, but Hive Mind Pt. 1 is crafted and produced excellently, positioning it as an undeniably strong entry in an undeniably strong year in extreme metal. Compositionally and instrumentally, the band simply does so many things right—a particularly impressive feat for a first record. Exuvial’s musicianship is tight, and they offer a robust collection of compelling musical ideas. If you like the modern brand of tech death, and if you like progressive death metal generally, do yourself a favor and join the hive mind.
Recommended tracks: the entire Hive Mind suite, Autonomic Awakening, Subterranean Swarm
You may also like: Blighted Eye, Vale of Pnath, Hath
Final verdict: 7.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Silent Pendulum Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Exuvial is:
– Ibrahim Jimenez (bass)
– Fernando del Valle III (guitars, vocals)
– Ethan Walden (guitars, vocals)
– Andrew Baird (drums)
