Excision

Excision is the alias of Jeff Abel, a Canadian DJ and producer from Kelowna, British Columbia, whose name has become synonymous with heavy, bass-driven dubstep. He began DJing in the mid-2000s and built his reputation through an annual series of Shambhala Music Festival mixes starting in 2008, dense hour-long compilations that showcased the aggressive, distorted low-end sound he would become known for. He founded his own label, Rottun Recordings, early on, releasing collaborative work with producers such as Datsik and Flux Pavilion.

His debut album, X-Rated (2011), came out through deadmau5's label Mau5trap and paired Excision's crushing sound design with guest producers like Downlink and vocal features, cementing his place in the North American dubstep scene at a moment when the genre was rapidly gaining mainstream traction. He continued building out his own festival ecosystem, eventually renaming his long-running annual mix series the Lost Lands Mix in 2017 to align with Lost Lands, the bass-music festival he founded and curates.

Excision's sound is defined by maximal low-end weight, aggressive sound design and a festival-scale sense of drama, placing him among the most influential figures in North American heavy dubstep and bass music. Beyond production, his role as a festival founder and label head has made him a significant infrastructure builder for the genre, not just a performer within it.