There is no doubt in my mind that Steven Wilson has been one of the most important progressive musicians over the last few decades, but I have also learned to treat each of his albums as a separate entity as while he has released some masterpieces there are also others which I have felt to be quite poor, even though others have raved over them. I even once used the horrific phrase “prog by numbers” with one of his solo albums, but no-one could ever say that about the latest release as Bass Communion. Even though I have reviewed albums of his for the last 30 years I have not previously come across Bass Communion, even though the debut came out at the end of the Nineties and this is his sixteenth album since then. Here we find Steven in a very different place to what I have come to expect from him, as he brings together ambient, drone, noise and other sub-genres to create something which is seeing him being likened to SunnO))), Earth and Merzbow.
When I played this I had not read the press release, so did not actually realise it was from Wilson, something I am pleased about as that knowledge could not impact my view of the music contained within, which to me is some of the most interesting and fascinating work I have heard from him in some years. There is a layered depth within which is intriguing, yet it is also somehow ethereal like a deep fog which feels heavy yet has no substance as one walks through, but it masks everything behind and coats everything with the same dank and dark colour. It is a fog horn in the distance, a warning of danger yet unseen, but menacing as even things of no import become creatures of the night with teeth and fans ready to take our souls, even though it is all in our imagination. It is a scary album in that respect, as one is taken deep into a troubling world, with the cover art tying in as we wonder what happened to the people who once enjoyed being on that boat, now a wreck lying in the mud. Was there a catastrophe or was it just age which condemned it to where it is now? What are the stories behind it?
I first started listening to Wilson with No Man Is An Island Except the Isle of Man and cassettes of Porcupine Tree, following him through Blackfield and his solo works, and there is no doubt this is one his most intriguing, complex and complete works to date. It will not be to everyone’s tastes as he left the well-trodden path of mainstream prog far behind and is now seeking his way through the misty marsh where dangers are ever present. Play it on headphones, with the lights out, in the middle of the night, to understand the majesty which is Bass Communion.
