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Excavation
by
Excavation Image
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 43 Ratings

  • Summary: Bobby Krlic's second full-length release as The Haxan Cloak was influenced by electronic music.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Exclaim
    May 3, 2013
    100
    Excavation is a brilliant piece of work, one best enjoyed actively with a premium set of headphones, in solitude.
  2. Beats Per Minute
    Apr 12, 2013
    90
    Excavation is vivid and physical, each moment meticulously and purposefully crafted.
  3. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Apr 26, 2013
    90
    Much as every black witch’s cloak is undeniably part of a discourse that includes both Black Sabbath and Black power, The Haxan Cloak is in a dialogue with contemporary dubstep, and with Excavation, he proves that he has much to add to the conversation.
  4. The Line of Best Fit
    Apr 12, 2013
    80
    This is lightless, horrifically bleak electronic music, but it still sounds human despite its lack of words, melodies or analog instrumentation; there’s a tangible personality to it that’s all its own.
  5. Resident Advisor
    Apr 16, 2013
    80
    He might have translated his sound into electronics with Excavation, but here Krlic's music feels more wrenchingly human than it ever has been.
  6. Drowned In Sound
    Apr 12, 2013
    70
    As the Richard Harris exhibition showed, by enabling us to momentarily confront our own mortality, morbid artistic meditations on death can be oddly and overwhelmingly uplifting.
  7. Dusted Magazine
    Apr 29, 2013
    70
    Excavation is a dark, ominous and sinister album, but Bobby Krlic is too smart to focus solely on scaring the shit out of his listeners, instead using electronics and beats to explore the haunted past and uncertain present in ways that build on his previous output without rehashing tired “hauntology” clichés.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Rustune
    Apr 25, 2013
    10
    This album is a unique experience and deserves a 10/10. It is not music that you can listen to all the time and instead requires your utmostThis album is a unique experience and deserves a 10/10. It is not music that you can listen to all the time and instead requires your utmost attention. Just by hearing the first track, you will know that this album will be a gripping and surreal soundscape.… Expand
  2. mrich
    Apr 22, 2013
    10
    This album grabs from the beginning and drags you into a dark world filled with blunt noise and darkness. I feel like I can re directThis album grabs from the beginning and drags you into a dark world filled with blunt noise and darkness. I feel like I can re direct Clockwork Orange with this music, and it would only be good because I used this album. Heck if you play this music in the original movie it would make it ten times better. But forget about the movie. Listen to the album and create your own world and your own story to go along with the somber and eerie sound scape.… Expand
  4. consonance
    Apr 23, 2013
    9
    I listened to Excavation for the first time on headphones in a quiet, but populated coffeehouse. This is a great idea to try yourself if youI listened to Excavation for the first time on headphones in a quiet, but populated coffeehouse. This is a great idea to try yourself if you enjoy injecting incredible amounts of tension and general hopelessness into your casual environment. Heads up though: the people around you might notice your sweating and/or shortness of breath. It's okay if they don't understand your anxiety, they're not the ones who are privately undergoing a sweeping storm on the senses. Not many other albums present this kind of dark, otherworldly setting with such fluidity and envelopment. One of the best electronic albums of 2013 so far.… Collapse
  5. Geologist
    May 30, 2013
    9
    An extremely dark, atmospheric, gripping and frankly terrifying electroambient LP. Listening to Excavation is a vehement and visceralAn extremely dark, atmospheric, gripping and frankly terrifying electroambient LP. Listening to Excavation is a vehement and visceral experience, and will make you never want to sleep with the lights off again.… Expand

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Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Best Album of 2013