Band:	Exuvial
Album:	The Hive Mind Chronicles, Pt. I: Parasitica
Style:	Progressive death metal, Technical death metal
Release date:	November 22, 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. Hive Mind: Overture
02. Hive Mind I: Convergent Evolution
03. Hive Mind II: Advent Of Segmentation
04. Hive Mind III: Neural Convolution
05. Holometabolous
06. Hypermanipulation
07. Autonomic Awakening
08. Parasitica [feat. Sanjay Kumar]
09. Subterranean Swarm [feat. Ben Towles]
10. Requiem For Ruin
11. Necrotic Dissolution [feat. Ben Gassman and Kyle Chapman]

In the past couple of years, I’ve found myself reaching year end and looking back in awe at the level and sheer volume of top-quality extreme progressive metal released during the preceding 12 months; the same is very much the case in 2024, with outstanding releases emerging right into the final weeks of the year.

In addition to impressive new efforts from established acts such as Blood Incantation, Anciients, In Vain and Persefone, the likes of Blighted Eye, Ubiquity, and Octoploid are just a few of the year’s more remarkable new discoveries for me. Another ensemble unleashing a remarkable debut record are Exuvial, a Colorado quartet initially formed by the trio of bassist Ibrahim Jimenez along with guitarist/vocalist duo Ethan Walden and Fernando Del Valle III; the recruitment of recently departed Fallujah drummer Andrew Baird last year allowed the group to make the next step and produce their debut record. The Hive Mind Chronicles, Pt. I: Parasitica is the first instalment of a planned trilogy, and based on the contents of this album, the following two chapters will be highly anticipated.

Exuvial are above anything a tech-death band, but with sufficient progressive inclinations to take them towards a similar place on the sub-genre border as occupied by the likes of Obscura and The Faceless. The latter, and specifically their Autotheism era, may be one of the more apt points of comparison for The Hive Mind Chronicles, Pt. I: Parasitica, particularly in how both of them open with a three-part (kinda) title track. After a brief piano overture, “Hive Mind” kicks into action with “Convergent Evolution”, a lively song that sets the band’s stall out early on with a solid mix of technical musicianship and polyrhythmic grooves kept accessible by hooky riffs, gnarly deathcore-leaning chugs, and melodic touches (including some subtle piano, one of several instances where some form of keys are used).

“Hive Mind II: Advent Of Segmentation” initially feels like a continuation of its predecessor, with more exuberant guitar lines contrasted with measured grooves, plus glimpses of creepy horror-style keys adding a slight extra dimension. However, Exuvial's prog tendencies begin to come to the fore after a few minutes; following a really tasty technical riff introduced midway into the song, the song immediately softens, and enters a prolonged cleaner sequence that gives me strong Parallax-era Between The Buried And Me vibes, particularly due to the effects on the clean vocals (which are processed in one sci-fi manner or another throughout the album), but also courtesy of the atmosphere conjured by the instrumentation, which undergoes a very satisfying and gradual escalation of tension. This acts as a green light for the band to start incorporating more melodic moments, as “Hive Mind III: Neural Convolution” is the first of several tracks to open with acoustic guitar, and it brings in more robotic vocals and synths alongside the outbursts of black-tinged tremolo riffing and complex rhythms.

The use of acoustic guitars is the most frequent way in which the album moves away from the extreme technical onslaughts; in some moments, such as a brief snippet midway into “Holometabolous” or the almost folksy opening to “Parasitica”, some might argue over the effectiveness of these acoustic passages, but I generally find them to work, and the moments of respite are welcome in contrast to the intensity of much of the album’s instrumentation otherwise. For example, “Holometabolous” has blasting assaults, Fallujah-esque technicality and Cynic-inspired sci-fi elements surrounding that acoustic segue, and the ascending/descending technical lead guitar part immediately following the acoustic break is perhaps even more emphatic than it would be otherwise thanks to the quiet prelude.

The Hive Mind Chronicles, Pt. I: Parasitica is pretty much banger after banger, with “Hypermanipulation” and its 9-minute runtime making for an effective album centrepiece. Some of the more rapid-fire technical moments give me The Zenith Passage vibes, but there’s also a very effective and prolonged section of mid-tempo rhythmic interplay with stop-start chugging and complex drumming, as well as awesome guitar tapping moments. What’s more, another acoustic mid-song passage is leant a pleasant Opeth touch by faint clean guitar notes. “Autonomic Awakening” offers a distinct but similarly satisfying acoustic approach when delicate fingerstyle is employed during the opening, and it also reprises the Between The Buried And Me vibes during its heavy melodic segments.

The end of the album turns into a playground for a range of guest guitarists, but these emerge in different forms. “Parasitica” is a real guitar exhibition; featuring Sanjay Kumar (Inferi, Wormhole, Equipoise and more), it is an onslaught of guitar technicality, and it really shines during a section of prolonged tapping soloing/duetting that escalates in pitch to great effect. Closing track “Necrotic Dissolution” (containing two Blighted Eye member cameos) similarly showcases extravagance, opening in frenetic fashion before trudging to a conclusion driven by polyrhythmic chugs and jackhammer double bass rolls. In contrast, “Subterranean Swarm” is the one song on the album that generally fixates on slower, nastier tones and rhythms, featuring plenty of dingy chug rhythms and crawling to its ending, but there’s a quirky Fredrik Thordendal-esque solo midway through (presumably performed by Greylotus’s Ben Towles) that injects variety into the track.

At just shy of an hour, there’s a lot to talk about on The Hive Mind Chronicles, Pt. I: Parasitica, yet despite the speed, aggression, complexity and extravagance of it, it generally manages to avoid taking listeners to a point of exhaustion, in no small part due to the quality of the songwriting here. It’s the kind of album you would expect to come from a more established name in the genre, but while the past projects of its members (Baird aside) haven’t made much impact on the scene, Exuvial seem destined to build a serious reputation fast, particularly if the next chapters in the Hive Mind Chronicles saga live up to this debut.