Track Premiere: BASSOON – “Pentisept”
Disclaimer: no actual bassoons are present here. Sorry, band geeks.
BASSOON is an avant-prog trio of instrumentalists from Brooklyn, creating sludgy and complex tunes with Stuart Popejoy on bass and keyboards, Sean Moran on guitar, and John Mettam on drums.
On offer for you today we have a premiere from their upcoming album, Succumbent. “Pentisept” features growling bass and crunchy harmonies working over the top of a shifting rhythm in the drums, leading to some fun and interesting music making.
Here’s a quote from Stuart Popejoy about the track:
“Pentisept” starts the B-side of Succumbent with drummer John Mettam pounding a relentless, constantly shifting beat that undergirds the entire track. “Most Bassoon songs are rooted in the drum part,” says composer Stuart Popejoy, “but in the case of Pentisept it’s really the key — the name refers to the rhythm being in both 5 and 7 at the same time, and all the riffs and melodies seek to bring some different part of that rhythm out.” The first part establishes a minimalist melody with heavy bass underpinning, but a break introduces some of the most haunting and dissonant tones on the record that crescendo up to a thundering unison chorus. A blistering bassline joins the original drum pattern to back guitarist Sean Moran’s soaring solo, before joining the bass and drums to end the track with thundering polyrhythmic riffage.
Succumbent is releasing on vinyl and digitally through Nefarious Industries. Cop a preorder here.
You can also catch them live at these dates:
10/27/2023 Hart Bar – Brooklyn, NY *record release show w/ PH0, Blisspoint, Splinternet
11/10/2023 The Burlington – Chicago IL w/ Aseethe, Anatomy Of A Habit, Nequient
11/12/2023 The Comet – Cincinnati, OH w/ Tina Fey
11/13/2023 Highlands Taproom – Louisville, KY
