Reviews

Excision’s Latest Album: A ‘Virus’ We Want to Have [Review]

October 27, 2016

Releasing his third studio album since 2011, Excision has created a work that will please every kind of fan he has. From dubstep bangers to rap-heavy bass tunes, Excision’s latest album, Virus, showcases all of the reasons we love his brand of bass music. Featuring 16 tracks, Virus is the largest collection of work released by the Kelowna-native to-date, and we’re always thankful for as much Excision as we can get.

Released via his very own Rottun Recordings, Virus follows Codename X, in Excision’s discography. Coming out in February of 2015, Codename X was one of our favorite albums of the year, and raised expectations and standards of bassheads everywhere. But, it left us wanting more. Full of huge tunes that we’ll gladly headbang to on any dancefloor, Codename X showed us hints of what we all knew Excision was capable of. Those hints are now broad, bright strokes of production mastery painted across Virus.

More Reading: Excision Releases Shambhala 2016 Mix

The title-track is a great example of Excision, also known as Jeff Abel, proving that he still knows how to do what he does best. Although Virus doesn’t have quite the banger-to-banger progression of Codename X, it doesn’t lack or lose the heaviness we love from Excision. Virus, Neck Brace, and Throwin’ Elbows start the album off with all of the dubstep we can handle, while Final Boss, The Paradox, and Harambe close out the work in a similarly heavy fashion.

What we get in-between, is a blend of bass music that fans of Excision will recognize throughout his career. There’s the high-energy, fast-paced, made-for-dancefloor tunes like Rave Thing and Mirror that would sound right at home on Codename X. There’s also the rap-heavy bass tunes, like Death Wish and G Shit, both featuring Sam King, that bring us back to past Excision collaborations with artists like Tech N9ne.

These new songs take us to the thinner parts of his catalog of tunes, stylistically, and highlight just how freaking good he is at making all types of bass music. While Excision is commonly known as a ‘Dubstep DJ’, Virus is an example of what that moniker can mean in 2016.

The aspect of Virus showcases Excision’s versatility more than any is the quality of the low-tempo, melodic, lyrical songs on the album. Drowning (feat. Akylla), Her, and With You (feat. Madi) are three tunes that give us more of the side of Excision we’ve been begging for. Reminding us of his remix of The Funeral, and Float Away, Virus boasts a bevvy of beautiful bass tunes.

A trend that continues on Virus that we hope continues throughout Excision’s career, is the bountiful amount of collaborations. No stranger to working with others, 75% of the album features another major artist, including some familiar faces. Datsik, Space Laces, and MC Messinian are names many fans of Excision, and bass music, will recognize.

And then there’s Dion Timmer. The young Dutchman, who recently performed his first show in Paris, features on an album-high five songs. He’s worked with Excision numerous times in the past, and we’re excited to see where this partnership goes in the future.

Much of the album also managed to bring back wonderful memories of The Village at Shambhala this summer. With 11 of the 16 songs on the album featuring in this year’s set, and another featured in 2015’s performance, it’s safe to say Shambhala is the best place to hear unreleased Excision tunes.

Virus is one of the best albums of the year, and we would expect nothing less from Excision. The growth from album-to-album is evident, and Virus is the best we’ve heard yet from our bass music overlord. Let us know what you think of Virus and which tune off of Excision’s latest work is your favorite! Check-out the track-list below, and leave a comment on Facebook, or reply on Twitter!