Exivious

Exivious is an instrumental progressive metal group from Utrecht, Netherlands, active from 1997 to 2016. Its line-up includes Tymon Kruidenier, Michel Nienhuis, Robin Zielhorst, Yuma van Eekelen and Stef Broks. The band is associated with Season of Mist and works across instrumental, jazz fusion, metal, progressive metal and technical death metal, with tags also placing it in progressive death metal, jazz metal and fusion metal.

Formation and line-up

The group is founded by Tymon Kruidenier, who shapes its aim of combining jazz fusion and metal in a single instrumental format. A stable line-up comes together in 2005 with Kruidenier, Robin Zielhorst, Michel Nienhuis and Stef Broks. Kruidenier and Zielhorst both have links to Cynic, Nienhuis comes from Dodecahedron, Broks from Textures, and van Eekelen later joins on drums after Broks leaves because of his full-time commitment to Textures. Van Eekelen is also known for work with Pestilence and The New Dominion.

Sound and style

Exivious develops a sound that brings together metal, fusion and elements of post-rock while remaining distinct from all three. Its music is instrumental and is built around melancholic melodies, energetic rhythms, dense harmonies, abrupt changes of mood and contrasting passages of noise and quiet. The group is presented as using these shifts to create a unified sound driven by close musical chemistry between the members.

Recordings and release history

The band releases its self-titled debut independently in 2009. The album is widely praised and is described in critical reactions as a standout release of that year. After Tymon Kruidenier and Robin Zielhorst move to the United States to focus on Cynic, Exivious goes on an indefinite hiatus. Both later leave Cynic and return to the Netherlands, after which the band resumes activity with renewed focus.

Exivious then begins work on Liminal. A crowd-funding campaign for the album reaches its target quickly and ends with more than twice the original goal raised. Recording starts in November 2012 and is completed in April 2013, with Kruidenier producing and mixing the record. The album is described as drawing on life experience rather than musical influences, and as aiming for an immersive, experimental instrumental form.

Live activity

In 2011, Exivious plays its first major outdoor festival appearance at Brutal Assault in the Czech Republic. The following year it tours Europe with Obscura, Spawn of Possession and Gorod. The band’s live performances are noted for their immersive quality.