Quadvium - featuring bassists, Steve Di Giorgio (Testament, Death) and Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Obscura, Pestilence) - recently issued an update, after a couple of years of radio silence, about the bass duo’s commencement on the debut album.
The quartet is regularly meeting on Zoom where the architect master Jennings unveils the latest update of each composition and then after we rehinge our jaws; offer compliments, criticisms, suggestions, ideas, or just call it 'good' and move on. They have issued a recording update:
Jeroen Paul Thesseling: "I see all instruments and players equal. We all bring something to the table that creates the magic. That's why it's Quadvium. We do it together".
Steve Di Giorgio: "This is the most democratic process I've ever been a part of. It is refreshing to have each of our opinions so valued and weight-considered. I think the level of mutual respect between the four of us allows for a fun, yet no bullshit quorum. I don't know what people are expecting, there's enough chops in these pieces to be worthy of shred, but they're so much more than that. I would say the emphasis we put into the song body is what's inspiring - they're each a mini-adventure unto themselves!"
Launching a band with two predominantly fretless bass players is no common occurrence, and the duo felt they needed to take very special and deliberate time to get the right alignment with who’s participating and what will be the end result – meaning the right sound & composition to represent this rare vision.
Staying the course, and some will notice from those long-ago press releases from Quadvium, the recognizable friendly face of Yuma van Eekelen (Our Oceans, Pestilence). The drummer has in fact been a major presence the whole time, Yuma’s agreeable dedication in helping find the final member and contributing with massive effort to the arrangements of the songs is no understatement. On chops alone, the band is lucky to cooperate with such a masterful drummer, but Yuma’s vision and chemistry is invaluably equal to the foundation towards this undertaking.
And with immense pleasure, we’d like to introduce, the final member… Jennings Smith (Myth Of I, Kaathe).
The guitarist/composer has taken the little seed of an idea and cultivated it into a sprawling kickass garden. The technical prowess of Jennings can be seen in his many videos on Instagram for Myth Of I and his solo material – we suggest you go and have a look! He has brought to this band a level of musicality and compositional energy and vision we only dreamed of. And the result of hours/days/weeks/and pretty much one year since the discovery and ingression to the band, is a presentation of just what we imagined we were looking for! Jennings understood the concept of writing for a dual-bass driving effort in this unique quartet format. With his song writing mastery and very impressive bass chops (also check his playthrough videos on bass), we can safely say this time that we have a solid lineup and a varied offering of songs we are excited to show you.
The composing phase is coming to a close with the last couple of ideas that will round-out the content for the first album. The band enters the preproduction phase with some final arranging and preliminary tracking in Amsterdam during the end of August. Final tracking and fine tuning will be ongoing through the rest of this year, as we also navigate and organize around many busy touring schedules. Plans, at this point, for the album release, foreseeable in the first half of 2024!
Quadvium lineup:
Jennings Smith – guitar
Steve Di Giorgio – bass
Jeroen Paul Thesseling – bass
Yuma van Eekelen – drums
Quick progress updates and exclusive video peeks into the workings will be posted up on the band’s official Facebook page.
