UMUR
"The Hive Mind Chronicles Part I - Parasitica" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Colorado based death metal act Exuvial. The album was released through Silent Pendulum Records in November 2024. Exuvial formed in 2019 and features members and/or former members of local Denver death metal artsts like Apotheon, Monumental Discharge, Telluric Effluvium, Well of Sacrifice, and Muldrotha.
Stylistically the material on the 11 tracks, 58:37 minutes long album is technical/progressive death metal and I´m almost immediately reminded of the Germans in Obscura (Edge of Sanity´s 1996 "Crimson" album also comes to mind during the most progressive and epic parts of the album). Exuvial have a similar progressive mindset in terms of their songwriting, and their technical playing style and the tempo changes in the music are also reminiscent of Obscura´s output. Quality wise Exuvial are also up there near the top tier technical/progressive death metal artists. These guys are skilled musicians, and they are clever composers too. The death metal parts are effective, the melodic lead- and harmony work provide the music with variation, and the progressive songwriting and compositional structures make "The Hive Mind Chronicles Part I - Parasitica" an interesting listen throughout.
The vocals are predominantly growling or raw snarling, but there are some clean vocal parts featured on the album too, and they are well performed and work well within the context of the music. "The Hive Mind Chronicles Part I - Parasitica" is a concept album release featuring a sci-fi storyline, and again it´s Edge of Sanity´s 1996 "Crimson" album which comes to mind, but a more obscure release like Detest´s 1994 "Dorval" album may also have served as an inspiration. Featuring a heavy, detailed, and powerful sounding production job, "The Hive Mind Chronicles Part I - Parasitica" is overall quite the impressive debut album from Exuvial, and since it says Part I in the album title, I´m sure we´ll get a sophomore release at some point, and I´ll certainly be looking forward to listening to that. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.
