Obscura recently revealed that everyone besides founding guitarist and vocalist Steffen Kummerer had quit the band prior to hitting the studio for a new album. Now Obscura appears to be rolling out the new lineup in a wave of announcements, the first of which is a familiar name! Rejoining Obscura for the first time since 2011 is bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who spent the past few years playing in Salazh Trio and exploring the possibilities of a 7-string bass.
Thesseling played on Obscura's 2009 album Cosmogenesis and 2011 album Omnivium, as well as a handful of covers recorded in 2009 that appeared on the 2012 compilation Illegimitation.
Fretless bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling rejoins OBSCURA
Legendary bass player Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Quadvium, Salazh Trio, ex-Pestilence) has rejoined the German progressive death metallers Obscura as a permanent member after a 9-year break. Thesseling, known for his signature fretless playing in death metal and world-fusion, joined OBSCURA in 2007 and recorded the band's critically acclaimed full-length albums Cosmogenesis (2009) and Omnivium (2011), both released via Relapse Records.
"Perhaps fans are somewhat surprised about my comeback. After leaving Obscura in 2011, we stayed in touch and over the years I've visited some of their concerts. Since the departure my main focus has been on exploring 7-string bass guitar and playing different genres. It's really nice to be back in the fold, being involved again in the writing process, collaborating on material for the upcoming sixth studio album and to prepare for intensive touring. We expect to announce a completion of the group's new line-up on short notice", says Jeroen.
Thesseling, who has been touring the world, also recorded Pestilence's fourth and sixth studio albums, Spheres (1993) and Doctrine (2011). Late 2017 he released the debut work Circulations with the jazz-fusion group Salazh Trio, featuring legendary drummer Horacio 'El Negro' Hernández. In 2019 Jeroen founded the fusion-world-metal group Quadvium with fellow fretless bassist Steve Di Giorgio (Testament, Sadus, Death). Quadvium is currently working on their debut album.
