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Bask - American Hollow review




Bandcamp music player
Reviewer:
8.1

12 users:
7.33
Band: Bask
Album: American Hollow
Release date: July 2014


01. High Mountain Pass
02. American Hollow
03. Land Of The Sky
04. Shake The Soot From Your Boots
05. A Man's Worth
06. Endless Summer

American Hollow is a prime example of what I like in my doom/psychedelic/stoner music today. A foundation consisting of a lively mix of groove and rhythmic sludge/stoner riffs and tremolo picked guitars (not in the traditional black metal sense but from a post-rock angle) to dense bass and squeaky clean drumming to finally, really elegant clean singing that weaves it's way through an atmosphere that's suppressing and haunting. Together, these components result in an album built vividly and harmonious, and the talent is apparent as boasted within the scope of the songs. To make American Hollow even better, there is a bit of convolution in it's infrastructure.

That vista being the Americana aura American Hollow transmits and uses extensively. It's no wonder because Bask are from North Carolina and after listening to American Hollow I half-expected there to be a picture of a banjo or the confederate flag in the album liner notes. I'm quite sure I haven't heard anything like it. Most of the songs are really anthems, drawing on a retro-classic southern Americana folk theme - a well thought out endeavor that lends a helping hand in the direction of nuance and accessibility. Beautifully balanced in the dynamics of heavy moments to melody, you can hear how Bask engender melodic influences from the deep south and rural country. It's more or less their trademark on the genre and it's undeniably both infectious and innovative.

American Hollow could be associated with being a hard rock album. The sentimental clean singing is perfectly suited for the granular music and is a key counterpart to the layered guitars and Baroness-esque melodic tendencies. The arrangements are purposeful and coherent, and, in fact, the whole album is designed to play nice with skillfully enhanced retro moments, soulful interludes and proper parts of today's trendy euphonious modern elements. The experimentation that Bask attempts is from the heart and, even better, done successfully.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 9
Production: 7





Written on 15.09.2014 by Be gentle, I never said I was any good at this!


Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 91 users
15.09.2014 - 13:19
Rating: 7
Ilham
Giant robot
Sounds interesting. I should check this.
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15.09.2014 - 15:42
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Ilham on 15.09.2014 at 13:19
Sounds interesting. I should check this.

You really should. teamster describes it perfectly and his rating isn't too far off from my own.

Nice review, guy.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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15.09.2014 - 17:18
R'Vannith
ghedengi
Looks like this'll be something with it's own sound to offer, a piece of Americana, I'll have a listen as well.
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15.09.2014 - 18:42
PocketMetal

Damn, I confused them with Bast and I was like " BUT THEY JUST RELEASED A NEW ALBUM".
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16.09.2014 - 09:43
toxx
Supreme being
This review is spot on!
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17.09.2014 - 17:40
LiquidSmoke
Account deleted
The day I hear a banjo and a fiddle accompanying a heavier sounding 16 Horsepower will be something glorious I suspect.
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18.09.2014 - 01:37
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Guest on 17.09.2014 at 17:40

The day I hear a banjo and a fiddle accompanying a heavier sounding 16 Horsepower will be something glorious I suspect.


Ha ha, nice. I will listen with you when it happens!
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rekt
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22.09.2014 - 23:45
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by deadone on 22.09.2014 at 07:32

I'll give it a 7 for the second half.


Very good summary my man. Agree with on on the harsh vox. I didn't mention it in the review because it's not very noteworthy. The album is pretty cool - something a tad bit different.
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rekt
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