EX EYE

EX EYE are a new band out of the USA but the members are all experienced musicians to say the least. Colin Stetson is incredible on sax while SECRET CHIEFS 3 multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily adds bass and synths. We also get Toby Summerfield on guitar and Greg Fox on drums rounding out the lineup. These guys had helped Colin with one of his solo albums and they decided to get together to make some music of their own. The music reminded me somewhat of the American band YETI. This is Post-Metal and it's dark and usually quite intense and powerful. It's all instrumental with four tracks although I did get the bonus track with the download.

"Xenolith; The Anvil" gets us started and it's drums and a heavy sound right from the first notes but it settles quickly with synths and drums. The guitar does come in over top in the Post-Rock tradition. The sax runs come and go starting 2 1/2 minutes in.

"Opposition/ Perihelion; The Coil" is uptempo with the guitar and drums standing out. Intense is the word. It settles back after 2 minutes tempo-wise but it's still intense. It kicks in again after 2 1/2 minutes including some great sounding bass. The guitar is ripping it up then some powerful pulsating sounds kick in before 4 1/2 minutes. Just an all out assault really that includes sax after 5 minutes. A dark calm before 6 minutes as sounds like drums and bass come and go, sax too. Love this section. It starts to wind down late as we get an experimental ending.

"Anaitis Hymnal; The Arkose Disc" could be the soundtrack to the apocalypse. A dark atmosphere to start with guitar expressions and more. Drums start to slowly beat as they come and go starting before 1 1/2 minutes. Synths sort of drone in and out as well as it slowly builds, sax too. The intensity is rising quickly before 4 minutes. So powerful and it's unrelenting until before 5 minutes as we get some minor relief with the sax and drums coming to the fore. The sax then steps aside and the sound will start to become more intense like earlier. Is that someone crying out before 8 1/2 minutes? Sax follows. It's almost doom-like before 11 minutes. So dark and haunting when it settles back and this continues right to the end.

"Form Constant; The Grid" opens with sax and pulsating sounds. The drums start to beat after 1 1/2 minutes and picked guitar joins in as well. A heavier, doomy sound takes over before 3 minutes. It does lighten up some and takes off before 4 1/2 minutes with Post-Rock styled guitar. This is still heavy and the sax is still lighting it up.

"Tten Crown; The Corrupter" is a bonus track but it really should be part of the main album in my opinion. It is similar to the rest but I would describe it as being more innovative and interesting. My favourite really but bonus tracks don't affect my rating either positively or negatively when I do reviews. I really like the guitar around 5 1/2 minutes.

This is one dark and intense album that ticks a lot of boxes for me when we're talking Post-Metal. Each member really blows me away here with their skills.