The pandemic wasn’t the only life and music career derailing event in recent years for the Appalachian psychedelic heavy rockers in BASK. Hurricane Helene unfortunately decimated the Asheville, North Carolina-based band’s hometown. They concluded the tracking for their fourth long player, “The Turning”, just a few weeks prior to the devastation. Amidst the madness, a member was still unaccounted for the day before they were slated to head toward Europe. If that wasn’t enough, their practice space was severely flooded. But now, finally, “The Turning”, BASK‘s first album since 2019’s “III”, will see the light of day. The album’s eight tracks have been therapeutic for the band, and considering its depth, fearlessness and brilliant songwriting, it’s likely to have a profound impact upon many who consume it.

There’s something cinematic throughout the entirety of “The Turning”, going hand-in-hand with the impressive lyrical backdrop. The conceptual backstory touches upon a heroine whose life is changed by The Traveler, a gunslinging madman who needs her assistance in running away. The sci-fi tale is fantastical and entertaining on the surface, touching upon real-life familial issues on a subtextual level as well as heavy subjects like the inevitability of aging and the cycle of life.

“Chasm” sets the festivities off, sounding fit for the opening scene in a classic Western. You can almost picture tumbleweed rolling across the brown dusty New Mexican desert. Then, eerie and gentle guitars wind toward a hard-hitting, throbbing wall of sound that pulses and dances rhythmically on “In the Heat of the Dying Sun”. Even deeper in the spirit of Americana, “Dig My Heels” shines with twangy, uplifting and addictive vocal melodies that are juxtaposed against jarring walls of metallic sound that reflect a sense of melancholy, and eventually lead to pensive and sparse piano jabs within a multilayered progressive movement. Nothing about “The Turning” is standard verse-chorus-verse. It’s a true example of progressive music, genuinely bold and adventurous, and void of allegiance to strict conventions.

“The Turning” is defined by its peaks and valleys, never melodramatically swinging for awkward climactic moments. Instead, everything flows seamlessly in a confidently performed display of heavy psychedelia that’s full of surprises. The album is passionate, soul searching, driven with purpose and a sense of adventure that doesn’t involve pointless wandering. Their rock-based template is augmented with a tapestry that weaves heavy metal, even Tampa Bay death metal, along with bluegrass, folk and country. BASK is truly one of a kind. Sure, influences can be heard, assumed and even self-professed, but as a collective, BASK doesn’t rip off any band, subgenre nor style. “The Turning” is a true exploration of sound, story and self.