Photo by: Garrett Williams
Official press release:
Ever since they came rumbling down from the Blue Ridge Mountains, it was clear that Bask are cut from a different neck of the woods than their fellow Southern trailblazers.
“It’s really exactly what you want from a musical artist”, Heavy Blog is Heavy wrote about the band’s previous album, “a group of people creating their own sound that isn’t aping anyone”.
The climb to reach album number four wound up taking the Asheville natives on one hell of a trip. But The Turning takes Bask’s homebrewed Heavy Americana to a new dimension. While its lead single starts with boots firmly planted in familiar metallic pastures, “Dig My Heels” leaps into the great beyond thanks to a gentle nudge from the band’s newest member. Bask says:
“We’ve been through so many trials and tribulations together over the past five years. We were knocked down by COVID, then by Hurricane Helene. Seeing this album finally come to light is therapeutic for us. The Turning is Bask at our finest. It’s our most cohesive and heartfelt effort, an ode to our mountain home in the sky”.
For as long as they’ve been together, Bask have called The Land of the Sky home. “We’ve been a band longer than we’ve been with our spouses,” says bassist Jesse Van Note. The Turning is still rooted in Appalachia’s rugged terrain. The album was recorded at Echo Mountain Recording with producer and fellow Asheville fixture Kenny Harrington, who’s also worked alongside Manchester Orchestra. “Dig My Heels” quickly settles into a sunbaked groove with riffs that are as chiseled as red clay. But once drummer Scott Middleton takes the reins, the band’s new single bounds off in a proggier direction.
“This song stemmed from Scott calling me out”, laughs guitarist Ray Worth. Instead of following Worth’s headbanging leads, the band let Middleton’s sideways gallop be their guide. Middleton acknowledges:
“There’s nothing wrong with playing in 4/4, but if you’re not exploring, then you’re missing out on a world of opportunity”.
As “Dig My Heals” rounds the corner into the chorus, what should appear but a country field of paisley countermelodies. Vocalist and co-guitarist Zeb Wright says:
“We all like heavy music and half us grew up around folk and bluegrass. But The Turning leans into that mix even further”.
Watch the video for lead single “Dig My Heels”. The Turning comes out August 22nd, 2025 on Season of Mist. Pre-order and pre-save here.
To kick off this heavy and heady new frontier, Bask are touring the East Coast later this summer. Hear them play “Dig My Hells” and other songs from The Turning during the album’s opening run out on the road.
The Turning track listing:
- “Chasm”
- “In the Heat of the Dying Sun”
- “The Traveler”
- “The Cloth”
- “Dig My Heels”
- “Unwound”
- “Long Lost Light”
- “The Turning”
8/20 Atlanta, GA – 529
8/21 Savannah, GA – El Rocko
8/22 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
8/23 Raleigh, NC – Chapel of Bones
8/24 Richmond, VA – Fuzzy Cactus
8/26 Philadephia, PA – MilkBoy
8/28 Searsport, ME – Starboard Lounge
8/29 Providence, RI – Parlour
8/30 Wallingford, CT – Cherry Street Station
8/31 Boston, MA – O’Briens
