Exivious is the brainchild of guitarist Tymon Kruidenier, who is currently also a member of the great Cynic. The band is completed by guitarist Michel Nienhuis, whom I know from his work with the amazing band Sengaia, on drums we have Stef Broks, of course known from the mighty Textures and rounding out the band is bassist Robin Zielhorst, also a live member of the legendary Cynic. Quite the all-star band, with musical skills that are out of this world, which they showcase on this record.

 

Enough name-dropping. The music you find here is completely instrumental, very (fusion) jazzy and highly progressive. The band has picked a groovy overall sound with looseness and jamming as main ingredients. At least that’s how it sounds, of course this has all been thought through to the smallest details. But the first couple of times, the record actually flows by quite smooth and easily. Most of this is caused by spacey, mellow intermezzos/interludes. It isn’t until you start to pay real close attention that you notice the magnificent song-writing and the superb skills of the musicians on this record. The drum patterns, the many various solos, the song structures, all of this keeps taking twists and turns you don’t expect but that do sound natural. Two thumbs up!

 

So, if you dig progressive rock/metal in the vein of Cynic, Textures, Dream Theater, Sun Caged and so on and so on, please do yourself a favour and check out Exivious. And for those who want to know who wrote which part on this disc exactly, you can trace this back on their website. Nerd heaven is here! But seriously, the prog metal scene just got better. Listen to Exivious!