Album Review: Bismut – Ausdauer (Lay Bare Recordings / Spinda Records)

Hailing from the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, Bismut is a dynamic heavy psych trio that has been carving their unique path since forming in 2016. Drawing influences from an eclectic blend of genres including progressive rock, doom, metal, stoner, heavy psych, and classic hard rock.

Their new album ‘Ausdauer’ will be out on October 20th, 2023, via Dutch label Lay Bare Recordings and the Spanish label Spinda Records.

An eclectic mix of styles, Bismut are certainly a varied sounding band and do an impressive job of keeping the listener on their toes as they wander through the soundscape that is Ausdauer. A soundscape that is immediately given vivid life with Mendalir. Where a timid sounding melody gives way to harmonious heavier groove, spiralling progressive peculiarities, and an overall psych-sheen that adds a level of ‘trippy times’ to the entire experience. It’s a very inventive opening track and over far quicker than expected.

Impressive, when you consider it comes in at just a second short of nine minutes.

Fuan comes next, and here Bismut get a little groovier, their instrumental vigour meeting a mentally cleansing style of progressive rock rhythm, and being complimented by shifting and shimmering melodies. Then there is Despotisme, a track that features some heavy guitar hooks, dreamy bass lines, and expansive guitar melodies. There’s a cavernous feel to this one, and its stages are some of the album’s most exciting.

The penultimate track is Masta, and it sees Bismut reaching an experimental high, crafting subtly and intensity, combining serenity and disorder, and smashing it all together for one of the album’s most emphatic listens. Before, hitting a creative high with the addictive weirdness of Euphoria. An apt title as most will come away feeling euphoric after hearing this.

Bismut – Ausdauer Track Listing:

1. Mendalir
2. Fuan
3. Despotisme
4. Masta
5. Euphoria

Links

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