Bismut—Matsutake

BISMUT are a Dutch instrumental powerhouse from Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Since 2016, their varying approach to music and different influences blossomed into a fantastic funky doomy mix. Their style has been described as progressive rock, doom, metal, stoner, heavy psych, and plain old hard rock, but it may actually be instrumental death boogie. Needless to say, there's quite a range of weird, wonderful sounds to be had at a Bismut gig.

Inspired by Anna Tsing’s 2015 book, Matsutake is “the Mushroom at the End of the World”, a metaphor for the possibility of life in capitalist ruins. A smelly delicacy, an acquired taste, Matsutake is a mushroom that cannot be cultivated or factory farmed.

In a world ruled by economies of scale defined by individualism, monocultures, and collapsing ecosystems, this mushroom thrives in the ruins of man-made pine forests where pine trees are no longer commercially viable. Its spores are virtually immortal, and rely on a complex assemblage of flora and fauna to grow into the Japanese delicacies they potentially all are.

Matsutake and its capitalism-defying journey from the forest to the plate also invite us to think differently. Rather than in competition for scarce resources, Matsutake lives in interdependent ecologies (as an Assemblage). Through Contamination, it infests plant life, lending it a new lease on life in the process.

Applied to music and creativity, Matsutake inspire us how to think in polyphonies, flow, and experimentation rather than singular basslines, catchy vocals and hit songs. With Matsutake, Bismut take us on a journey away from Alienation, through Neugier (German for curiosity) to (Potential) Immortality, inviting us to find what there is to Salvage rather than to conquer and destroy.

Matsutake was recorded and mixed by Sebastiaan van Bijlevelt at Galloway Studio and mastered by Alex McCollough at True East Mastering, Nashville. Photography for the artwork was made by Toon van Kouteren using redscale technique. The artwork was designed by Studio Another Day.