Jeroen Paul Thesseling (born 13 April 1971) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

fretless bass A fretless bass is a bass guitar whose neck does not have any frets. While the instrument is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them befo ...

player, most famous for his work in the German progressive death metal band Obscura and the Dutch progressive death metal band Pestilence.

Biography

;Early life Jeroen started studying violin and followed his first lessons at the age of 7. During his youth he played with classical orchestras, ensembles and attended several classical music contests. At the age of 16 he switched to bass guitar. ;Professional career Thesseling began studying bass in 1988 at the

ArtEZ ArtEZ University of Arts ( nl, ArtEZ hogeschool voor de kunsten) is an art academy in Netherlands. ArtEZ combines several art institutes and art disciplines with branches in Arnhem, Enschede, and Zwolle. In its name the A stands for Arnhem, the ...

School of Music in

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Between 1992 and 1994, he was a member of Pestilence, with whom he recorded the jazz fusion-influenced album ''

Spheres The Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellite (SPHERES) are a series of miniaturized satellites developed by MIT's Space Systems Laboratory for NASA and US Military, to be used as a low-risk, extensible test bed for the ...

''. In 1995 Jeroen started to study microtonality, which resulted in two pieces: ''Hafnium'' — study in 72-tone equal temperament (1999) — and ''Argon'' — study in 18-tone equal temperament (2000). The period following, Arabic microtonal and contemporary classical music inspired him to focus primarily on fretless bass. In 2005 he recorded his first fretless work with the studio group Ensemble Salazhar. Despite their highly acclaimed demo ''Colors'' the group never officially released recordings. Between 2007 and 2011, he collaborated with Obscura and recorded with them ''

Cosmogenesis Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

'' (2009) and ''

Omnivium ''Omnivium'' is the third studio album released by German death metal band Obscura, and the second album of Obscura's four album concept. The album was recorded at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor Bullok (also known as ...

'' (2011). Between 2009 and 2012, he rejoined Pestilence after a 15-year break and recorded their sixth studio album ''

Doctrine Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...

'' (2011). Since 2011, he has played exclusively fretless 7-string basses built by German bass luthier

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

; they are strung with a subcontra F#-tuning (F#₀–B₀–E₁–A₁–D₂–G₂–C₃). In late 2014, he founded the jazz fusion group Salazh Trio featuring legendary Cuban drummer/percussionist

Horacio Hernández The name Horacio is found sporadically throughout all Latinamerica. Historical Figures *Horacio Quiroga, an Uruguayan author and writer. *Horacio Carochi, an Italian Jesuit priest and grammarian *Horacio Pagani (auto executive) (born 1955), Argen ...

. Their debut work ''Circulations'' was released in December 2017. In October 2019, he founded the fusion-world-metal group Quadvium with fellow fretless bass player

Steve Di Giorgio Steve Di Giorgio (born November 7, 1967) is an American bass guitarist. He is known for working with numerous heavy metal bands such as Sadus (of whom he was one of the co-founders), Death (metal band), Death, Testament (band), Testament, Megade ...

. In April 2020, it was revealed that he rejoined the German progressive death metal band Obscura as a permanent bass player after a nine-year break. With them he recorded their sixth studio album '' A Valediction'' (2021). Jeroen Paul Thesseling lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Equipment

Jeroen endorses

basses and has played Warwick Thumb NT series exclusively since 1993. He has played several Thumb NT6 and NT7 basses, each marking different chapters of his musical career. During Pestilence's

era, he played a Thumb NT6 bass. Later on he started using fretless Thumb NT6 basses, for Obscura's

and

era. In 2011 he started playing custom shop Thumb NT7 fretless basses, which are most notably heard on the recording of Pestilence's

album, Obscura's '' A Valediction'' album and Sadist's ''Firescorched'' album. ;Warwick 7-string basses (customshop) * Warwick Thumb NT7 fretless Ebony fingerboard (2017) * Warwick Thumb NT7 fretless Snakewood fingerboard (2013) * Warwick Thumb NT7 fretless Ebony fingerboard (2011) ;Warwick 6-string basses * Warwick Thumb NT6 fretless Macassar Ebony fingerboard (1993) * Warwick Thumb NT6 fretless Ebony fingerboard (1991) * Warwick Thumb NT6 Wenge fretboard (1991) * Warwick Thumb NT6 fretless Asian Ebony fingerboard (1989) * Warwick Thumb NT6 Wenge fretboard (1989) ;Live amplification * Warwick LWA 1000, WCA 115 CE LW cab, WCA 115 CE LW cab (left) * Warwick LWA 1000, WCA 115 CE LW cab, WCA 115 CE LW cab (right) ;Recording gear * Phoenix Audio DRSQ4 MkII dual channel preamp * Aurora Audio GTQ2 MkIII dual channel preamp

Discography

;Studio * Sadist – ''Firescorched'' (2022, Agonia Records) * Obscura – '' A Valediction'' (2021, Nuclear Blast) * Salazh Trio – ''Circulations'' (2017, Salazh Trio) * Obscura – ''

'' (2011, Relapse Records) * Pestilence – ''

'' (2011, Mascot Records) * MaYaN – ''

Quarterpast ''Quarterpast'' is the debut album by Dutch metal supergroup MaYaN. It was released on 20 May 2011 in Europe. The title ''Quarterpast'' was suggested by a fan as part of a competition to decide the band's name, but was eventually used as the album ...

'' (2011, Nuclear Blast) * Obscura – ''

'' (2009, Relapse Records) * Pestilence – ''

'' (1993, Roadrunner Records) ;Live * Pestilence – ''Presence of the Past'' (2015, Marquee Records) ;Compilations * Pestilence – ''Twisted Truth'' (2020, Warner Music Group) * Pestilence – ''Prophetic Revelations'' (2018, Hammerheart Records) * Pestilence – ''Reflections of the Mind'' (2016, Vic Records) * Lange Frans – ''Levenslied'' (2012, TopNotch) * Pestilence – '' Mind Reflections'' (1994, Roadrunner Records)

Videography

;Official music videos * Obscura – ''Heritage'' (2022) * Obscura – ''The Neuromancer'' (2022) * Sadist – ''Accabadora'' (2022) * Obscura – ''When Stars Collide'' (2021) * Obscura – ''Devoured Usurper'' (2021) * Obscura – ''A Valediction'' (2021) * Obscura – ''Solaris'' (2021) * Obscura – ''Anticosmic Overload'' (2009) * Pestilence – ''Mind Reflections'' (1993)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thesseling, Jeroen Paul Living people 1971 births Obscura (band) members Pestilence (band) members Death metal musicians Dutch heavy metal bass guitarists 21st-century bass guitarists Mayan (band) members