For their entire run Bask have been the kind of stoner metal band that wasn't content with just being run-on-the-mill. Even if there wasn't anything overly experimental about the way they approached their sound, they found a niche in straddling the line between rock and metal, and in pushing the expansive quality of their psychedelic sound into something closer to post, and because of their line straddling, that meant both post-rock and post-metal. But even as far as their debut, our writers have identified a certain "Americana aura" to their music. Yes, I may have been clickbaiting a little with that "country twang", since Americana and country aren't completely synonymous, but I was unto something regardless.
See, The Turning does feel like it follows that lineage of sound from the previous Bask albums, but it's also clearly the most ambitious of the bunch. Which does make sense considering that it follows the biggest gap between releases, coming six years after III. And one of the ways in which The Turning is more ambitious is the strengthening of that Americana aura, partly through the addition of fifth member Jed Willis, a previous contributor now fully contributing with that very specific steel guitar part, making sure that there's no shortage of moments where that Appalachian soundscape gets its share of forefront time (also coming from some of the guest instrumentation), but then you also have "Dig My Heels" where the vocals themselves join that direction, creating a slightly awkward contrast at first, but one which does indeed sound close enough to country to make my teaser be at least partly accurate. That's a direction that works much better in "Long Lost Light", where the metal element is pushed back for most of the song.
But one other significant direction is the increased intricacy in the stoner/sludge riffing, something that feels in line with how progressive touches have appeared in similar bands like Elder and Pallbearer (both directly named by the Bandcamp description), both with noticeable touches in the riffing and overall structures but not enough to call them prog per se. That's in the metal part. The steel guitar enhancing the mellower atmospheric bits also pushes towards a similar prog direction by way of David Gilmour comparisons. But whether in its heavier sludgy moments or its mellower psych rock moments, there's an airy feeling to the production, which makes the album feel expansive in more than just its style, but in the way the listening experience feels. Not to mention the warmth that comes as a result of all that.
What makes The Turning such a great listen is less in the technical aspects of it, but rather in how earnest it feels. There's a grandiose concept that it is built around, but it feels like its building blocks come from cooperation between musicians with different tastes. And I think that warmth I talked about comes from that instead of just how well it is produced.
