Review / 200 Words Or Less
Eksi Ekso
I am Your Bastard Wings

Magic Bullet (2008) Tohm

Eksi Ekso – I am Your Bastard Wings cover artwork
Eksi Ekso – I am Your Bastard Wings — Magic Bullet, 2008

Eksi Ekso is a group of six musicians from Boston. Their debut, I am Your Bastard Wings, highlights a musical prowess that dances between free-form and orchestrated. The breadth of instruments - viola, oboe, violin, flugelhorn, trumpet, bass, guitar, keys, drums - adds to Eksi Ekso's complex sound. Easy comparisons might be Ghastly City Sleep and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but Eksi Ekso find themselves far from minimal arrangements. "Mavri" is one of the most unique songs on I am Your Bastard Wings, because it doesn't rely too heavily on bowed instruments. Most of the songs on the album set the violin and viola at the forefront, but Eksi Ekso allow freedom in their dynamic.

6.7 / 10Tohm • July 23, 2009

Eksi Ekso – I am Your Bastard Wings cover artwork
Eksi Ekso – I am Your Bastard Wings — Magic Bullet, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Vial

Hellhound
Trout Hole Records (2026)

I was really into the last Vial record, a quick burst of peppy and pointed brat punk. The early singles off Hellhound lean way more grunge, so I was curious how the band had developed in the past couple of years. And while my very first impressions of "Infected" and "Scorpio Moon" had me thinking of L7 and Nirvana, by … Read more

Mauled

When Your Eyes Are Shut
Silverback Gorilla Records (2026)

Deathcore has spent the last decade mutating into increasingly technical, polished, and theatrical territory. Some bands chase symphonic grandeur. Others lean into hyper-technical brutality. The Indianapolis wrecking crew named Mauled take a different approach on When Your Eyes Are Shut. They drag the genre back toward the raw chaos of its early years. This six track EP feels deliberately rooted … Read more

DMZ

The Lost Studio Sessions-1978
Crypt Records (2026)

The Lost Studio Sessions 1978 finally sets the record straight. This is the raw, ugly power the band’s debut never touched. For years, the DMZ legacy has been misunderstood because of that Sire LP. Look, it was the first record of theirs I ever heard and I still love it—but Flo & Eddie’s production smoothed over everything that made them … Read more