Nestled in Brooklyn's art-metal underground since 2007, BASSOON started as the drum-machine-powered duo of Stuart Popejoy with Harvey Milk bassist Steve Tanner, before evolving into the current trio of Popejoy on bass and keyboards with stalwart Brooklyn polymaths Sean Moran on guitar and John Mettam on drums. Their 2012 eponymous release and epic live shows earned them the praise of TimeOut's Hank Steamer as “Brooklyn's heaviest and most challenging, bringing to mind a mixture of Melvins-style avant-sludge and daredevil ’70s fusion,” and their inclusion in Brad Cohen's “15 best metal bands in NYC,” in the Observer in 2017.

BASSOON's second LP, Succumbent, brings fresh forays into advanced heaviness, drawing upon Magma-esque intricacy, austere minimalism, ‘70s fusion/jazz harmony, and more pounding riffs like those from their first release in 2012. The album's intro “Omnidolent” provides a wide-ranging overture from stoner anthem to duophonic dissonance, followed by the austere blast-rock of “Succumbent” before ending the A-side with the polyrhythmic power rocker “Ossuarium.” The back side presents two contrasting takes on heavy minimalism: “Pentisept” layers mathy melodicism over a shifting drum ostinato, while “Cyclops” cooks a slowly twisting intervallic mono-groove to a blast-beat boil. The album finishes with the Brahmsian prog of “Born To Doom.”

Succumbent was recorded and mixed by legendary engineer Tony Maimone at Studio G in Brooklyn (The Book Of Knots, Ani DiFranco, Mike Watt), mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (Mastodon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge), and completed with art/design by the band’s Stuart Popejoy.