BASK has always had a unique sound rooted in Appalachia but unbound by genre. On their fourth album, The Turning, the Asheville, North Carolina, outfit pushes what they call “Heavy Americana” into a new direction. What begins in the dirt of the Blue Ridge mountains often rockets skyward, straddling the line between cosmic and countrified.
Pedal steel player Jed Willis has long orbited the band, but this marks his first album as an official member. His presence makes a noticeable difference. Lead single “Dig My Heels” opens in rugged pastures before launching into the ether, Willis’ pedal steel shimmering across the mix.
Along with being a unique genre fusion, The Turning is also a narrative journey. At its heart is The Rider, a heroine whose fate tangles with The Traveller, an ageless gunslinger who enters the story with a double-barreled riff and galloping percussion. Their pursuit spirals through myth and metaphor, chasing immortality and circling back to themes of family, memory, and rebirth.
The band wrapped recording just weeks before Hurricane Helene swept through Asheville, and the specter of that storm lingers. “Long Lost Light” drifts through ghost-town saloons, its piano and fiddle echoing like ghosts before being swallowed whole.
With its ambitious storytelling, The Turning often feels like a Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in the heart of Appalachia. That sense of narrative immersion, while not usually my thing, is part of the album’s appeal.
Musically, BASK weave a curious fabric of influences, somewhere between Elder’s progressive heft, My Morning Jacket’s starry-eyed Americana, and Pallbearer’s mournful weight.
The band’s emphasis on story recalls groups like Mothman and The Thunderbirds, where myth and music move hand in hand. For listeners who crave adventurous hybrids, this is an album that delivers a saga worth exploring.
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