Music / Excision (Musician)

aka: Excision

"Let me see you throw your X up!"

"Widespread reports of the infectious "X virus" are pouring in, as people around the world are beginning to panic. Medical experts have informed us that alteration of human DNA has led to the creation of an entirely new type of virus. This "X virus" is somehow able to spread through soundwaves, rearranging and permanently modifying humans on a cellular level. By creating auditory and visual hallucinations, it starts with seemingly random changes in pitch, until slowly, the infected begin to lose the ability to understand language. You may begin to feel disoriented as sounds become more distorted and volume increases. Your body begins to vibrate. Time slows down, as reality disappears."

— The opening narration of "Virus".

Excision (real name Jeff Abel) is a Canadian dubstep producer, active since 2004. He is best-known for his collaborations with fellow Canadian dubstep producers Datsik and Downlink, and along with the aforementioned artists, is credited as a key player in the so-called "brostep" scene; his musical style, characterized primarily by the use of atonal melodies, disorienting song dynamics, and extremely brutal bass drops influenced by brutal/slam Death Metal, Industrial and Harsh Noise, has allowed him to gain massive recognition among fans of extreme music subgenres.

He has collaborated with Pendulum (The band asked him to remix their 2009 single "Showdown"), Legacy, SKisM, Mr. Hudson, Messinian, Sullivan King, Illenium, and Savvy, among many other artists.

He is also known for his flashy and multicolored live shows, complete with highly advanced and powerful sound systems. He has his own custom stage for showcasing these: the Executioner stage, a sound system with a power of 150 thousand watts, giving an ear-splittingly loud yet crystal clear sound, almost akin to his studio recording. He would soon retire the stage in 2015, only to introduce The Paradox, its successor, the following year.

In 2012, he formed the Industrial Metal Super Group Destroid together with Downlink and ex-Pendulum drummer KJ Sawka.

In 2017, he debuted Lost Lands, his own dinosaur-themed, bass-centered music festival, to universal acclaim.

Studio Albums

As Excision

• X Rated (2011, released on mau5trap records)
• Codename X (2015)
• Virus (2016)
• Apex (2018)
• Onyx (2021)

With Destroid

• Destroid: The Invasion (2013)

Excision provides examples of the following tropes:

• Animated Music Video: Subverted in "X Rated feat. Messinian", as it was being overlapped with Performance Video (see below).
  • The Virus album has a truck load of them:
    • "Virus"
    • "Neck Brace feat. Messinian" (might overlap with Lyric Video)
    • "Are You Ready?"
    • "Mirror"
    • "Generator"
    • "G-Shit feat. Sam King" (might overlap with Video Full of Film Clips and Lyric Video)
    • "Her" (might overlap with Lyric Video)
    • "With You feat. Madi" (might overlap with Lyric Video)
    • "Final Boss"
    • "Harambe"
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Being "dubstep aliens" is the whole idea of Destroid.
• Concept Album: Destroid: The Invasion is a musical account of Destroid taking over the world, which is detailed enough to have a movie made out of it.
• Darker and Edgier: He did this to brostep (which was already the Darker and Edgier variant of dubstep), of all genres...
• Epic Fail: The music video for "Destroid 11. Get Stupid" is basically one huge fail montage.
• Harsh Noise: Some of his harsher output comes dangerously close. Honestly, listen to the bass drops in "Swagga" or "Deviance".
  • The genre itself is a significant influence to his musical style, which leads fans to compare him favorably to the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Merzbow, and a few even describing his music as "very harsh electronic noise set to pounding brostep beats".
• Industrial Metal: Occasionally makes forays into this, especially with his stint in Destroid.
• Last Note Nightmare / Letting the Air out of the Band: "Live Wire" ends with this.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Excision is a quite gorny name, to say the least.
  • Also, Destroid. As in "destroyed".
• Performance Video: "X Rated feat. Messinian", "Africa", "Rave Thing" and "The Paradox".
• Scary Musician, Harmless Music: Inverted. At first glance, looks like a pretty average, run-of-the-mill DJ, and is an all-around Nice Guy to match. A closer look into his discography, however, and you'll find some of the heaviest, most brutal “regular” brostep ever conceived.
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: Despite being known for creating some of the heaviest music ever conceived, Abel has proven many, many times that he is capable of making some surprisingly bright, impactful melodic dubstep.
  • Subverted in the case of "Gold" (with Illenium). For the most part, Illenium almost seems to overshadow Excision. The production remains relatively minimal, and the first drop borders on future bass territory... until the second drop plunges into the traditional heavier sound he's typically known for.
• Visual Pun: "Throwin' Elbows"' music video mostly consists of footage of elbow strikes from Mixed Martial Arts, Professional Wrestling, etc. Also included in the montage is someone holding a box of elbow macaroni.

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