German stoner/doom/ambient/jazz sextet bunsenburner to release new album »poise« on December 9th via Bensnburner Records
Freiburg, Germany based stoner/doom/ambient/jazz sextet bunsenburner is gearing up to release their new album »poise« on December 9th, 2022 via Bensnburner Records.
You can already listen to the album’s first three singles »Lights Of Jupiter«, »Witchcraft« and »Mouches Volantes« below!
Tracklist:
01. Permeare
02. Lights Of Jupiter
03. Witchcraft
04. Mouches Volantes
05. Cast Off
06. Siriasis
07. Wallow In Dreas
08. 720
09. Spiegelkabinett
10. Ascent Of Sap
11. You Could Be Happy Here
12. Meanwhile 22 (Bonus Track)
Mixed by Ben Krahl.
Mastered by Ben Krahl & Konrad Dycke.
Album cover by Josh Herrington.
Courtesy of The Metallist PR:
bensnburner, the one-man band evolved into an ever-rotating and expanding hive mind initially conceived and realised by the bassist and producer Ben Krahl in 2012, are releasing their new full-length »poise« under the moniker bunsenburner via the conglomerate-esque band’s leader’s own bensnburner records on December 9th 2022. The sextet’s twelve-song barrage of uncompromising ebb and flow artistry was recorded live with a full band setting without prior arrangements or later overdubs at huji maja Studios in Freiburg, South Germany, within the span of three days this past June, with the result being a holistic journey through the vast and vibrant, uncompromisingly lush and oftentimes jaw-droppingly surprising soundscapes of the band’s creation.
While bensnburner as a project at first started as a bedroom project, Krahl quickly found himself amassing other likeminded world class musicians around him to tap into the most profound source of his vision and to fully obtain and convey the project’s essence in its grandest nature. While the act’s previous releases already digress beyond all imaginable genre-related thresholds and have their solid places in the act’s continuum, »poise« by its appearance and aesthetic, is the project’s most refined and musically pervasive effort to date. »poise« also poses a quantum change for the band, as due to its unique nature a shift was required, which led to transforming their name to bunsenburner, to underline the vast difference between the band embodiment and Krahl’s own endeavors. Stretching its canvas across a multitude of musical leanings rarely united and painting a labyrinthine image to its surface with brush strokes ranging from the cogent and mountain-movingly strong to the utmost delicate and feather light ones, somehow bunsenburner still manages to make absolute sense.
Don’t mistake the above words as intimidating or daunting in the slightest either; if anything, »poise« is a masterclass in molding the most complex and serpentine ingredients into a palpable and enjoyable form. The current line-up of bunsenburner is made up of Krahl’s long-time friends and fellow musicians, who have performed together with Krahl at different stages and bands throughout his multifaceted career, blooming into a band equally made up of metal as well as jazz musicians. The pedigree of these musicians is a sight for sore eyes as well; the drummer Norman who has appeared on the three latest bensnburner records played in Triptykon for a decade, the guitarist Martin is known for his work in Fear My Thoughts and Long Distance Calling amongst others, while the so called jazz guys, the other guitarist Flo and the keyboardist Philipp have made name for themselves through extensive careers from worldwide jazz scenes to movie scoring, and everything in between. In addition, there’s also Bene who runs turntable into an effect pedal chain, utilizing a variety of ”found sounds”, meaning various records Ben himself found from the streets and brought in. The inclusion of existing sounds, albeit ran through a figurative meatgrinder, is an important factor on »poise«, providing further twist into the album’s already convoluted nature.
“For »poise«, I wanted to compose as much as possible while giving away as little musical information as possible, so I decided to have a more sound-focused approach and arranged some things entirely myself, like the instruments, amps, and pedals everyone used. I knew what everyone had on their boards and on top of this ordered an extra pedal for everyone, in order to influence their views on how the album should sound. For the post-production I wanted to have a similar approach like Miles Davis did on his album Bitches Brew – to have live recordings and see them as a collage with the opportunity to mix them up in a different way, being able to add things like delay on the drums, EQ experimentations, stereo placements, and reverbs, mainly on the more ambient-kind of songs.
After having to make some compromises with mixes in the past, I decided to do this one by myself while preparing for the recording session. It’s maybe not technically ”correct” in every possible way, but it’s the closest possible incarnation of the idea I had about the sound, which were very concrete from the beginning. After deciding to do it myself, I noticed how the mix and post-production is an additional tool to underline the artistic expression and how everything felt more authentic, raw, and honest this way.” – Ben Krahl
Pre-order/save the upcoming album »poise« here: save.bunsenburner.de
The recording & songs
The whole album was recorded live during three days. Every song was recorded live with a full band setup (jazz approach). There were no overdubs used on the recordings, as the main focus was to capture the moment of creation. None of the songs existed before the studio session, and some were fully improvised (most of the ambient/drone-ish songs). Krahl gave away the basic mood for each song, expressing the way each should develop. While recording, he conducted some parts/layers and their introductions and exits. The heavier songs are based on riffs Krahl collected prior to the recordings, though each was mainly based only on loose harmonics or rhythmic ideas, in order to give room for each musician to bring in their personal ideas and flavours on board.
bunsenburner is:
Martin Fischer – Guitar
Flo Möbes – Guitar
Ben Krahl – Bass, Bass VI, Synths
Philipp Schlotter – Guitar, Synths
Bene Abert – Guitar, Live Sampling, Special Effects
Norman Lonhard – Drums
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well