Sometimes I lay in bed at night, struggling to figure out what to listen to in order to calm my brain and find some peace. I have it in my head, the way the guitars sound, the kinds of riffs and sinewy leads I want. Slow, rolling, but catchy and propulsive. It’s more than stoner rock; when everyone and their brother is doing it, I crave something deeper, something that locks into my wavelength. I didn’t know Bask before randomly grabbing the promo from the pile, but now, having heard The Turning, not only do I know them, but I know what I was searching for on all of those sleepless nights.

Something to ring the spirit bell inside. A chord that resonates deep in the chasm of my chest. Also, some banjo and gnarly fuzz.

The North Carolina unit has been active since 2013, and launched their debut American Hollow in 2015. Indebted to bands like My Morning Jacket and Minus the Bear just as much as heavier fare like Mastodon, there’s a distinct Americana vibe (though that word seems tainted now in light of this music travesty) that permeates their discography, coming to some sort of head on The Turning. Having gone through the pandemic with cancelled tours and then dealing with Hurricane Helene in 2024, you would expect the band to have a lot to work through and get off their collective chests.

They do, and it’s channeled through a sprawling concept record that fuses heady science fiction with their cultural and geographic roots to create something phenomenal: a rock record that feels important without being preachy; heartfelt and true in a way that only fictions can reveal. It’s a marvel, and I find myself lost in the intricacies of its arrangements; finding progressive nuggets next to blistering leads and chugging power chords, the aforementioned banjos mixing with horns and cello to climb musical heights, only to leap and soar into a new musical milieu.

Early single “The Traveler” travels the stoner rock road really well, but I was completely taken in by the doom country hybrid “Dig My Heels.” And penultimate track “Long Lost Light” is gorgeous, a dusk western drawl built on a skeletal piano, pedal steel, and string arrangements. They’re all great in their own way, but taken within the entirety of The Turning, they become something more. “Long Lost Light” for example only comes after the frenzy of styles strung together on “Unwound” which alternates between furious Mastodon riffing and anthemic alternative rock. And once past the opening intro of “The Chasm,” exotic melodies bring the dust of the desert into raging waters on “In The Heat of the Dying Sun” that thunders like High On Fire.

Every song, from the layers of sound melting into waves of reverb on “The Cloth” to gospel roots that spring from the chaos of the closing title track bring The Turning higher and higher as a cohesive statement of love, identity, and place. I can’t believe how quickly this album took hold of me, and how much it spoke to the thing I’ve been looking for in music these past few heavy and hard months.

Words have left. Bask. The Turning. Just…

(shakes head, leaves to go back and lay down, pressing play again…)

— Chris

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The Turning will be available August 22 from Season of Mist. For more information on Bask, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages.