Excis is a five- piece metal band from origins unknown but landed and based in Conway, AR comprising of Grady Kukovich (lead vocals, cleans and hards), Blake Goodwin (backup vocals, guitar), Brandon Toney (guitar), Jeremy Gifford (bass) and Logan Kennedy (drums). Inspired by 80s and modern rock their aim is to appeal to pop and rock fans as well as fellow musicians. Embodying sci-fi media alongside the intricate compositions, Excis aspire to be your next obsession.
Their debut single Combatant which was released April 14th 2022 brings a mix of harmonic catchy cleans and hard vocals which compliment each other very well. Kukovich writes the majority of the lyrics with some input from Goodwin with, “Clear all the way we’re coming now, we’ll fight you off our dying vow, it’s not enough, you think you’re tough, I’ll hunt you down, I’m seeking blood”. You can hear from the opening bars the direction they want to establish as the Excis sound, which is nicely toned tight riffs, percussion and bass that gives depth and enhances the subtle futuristic electronics.
After having a short discussion with Kukovich I learned that at the time he was writing the lyrics for this song he was feeling a lot of resentment towards some things that were happening in the world at that moment. If you listen carefully to the lyrics, especially the hards, you can hear there is definitely some anger there. Overall this track is a great start to a career for this band, this is Grady's first ever song release as the other members have previously been in other bands doing the whole touring scene.
I see a bright future for this band in the Rock/Metal scene and I'm excited to see what is to come next so keep an eye on them and follow them on this amazing journey through space and time.
Matt James