Boris - No



To the uninitiated, a band that has a discography that gets anywhere close to rivalling Boris’ can be a bit daunting. Compound that with the Japanese trio’s reluctance to confine themselves to even broad genre descriptors across any given album, and you could be forgiven for struggling to find a jumping in point in their 28 year long career. 2020’s No is a strong and uniquely Boris as anything that they’ve released, blending their early drone doom works as well as their breakneck punk sludge in a new record that will melt your brain in the best possible way. If you want a fresh gateway into a band that is more than worth your time, get this record on.


The majority of the record falls into Boris’ all out punk bruising madness category. Most of the tracks, such as ‘Anti-Gone’ and ‘Temple of Hatred’ sit around the three minute mark and sound as a love letter to the punk and sludge bands that Boris so often cite as influences. Those who seek doom level heavy are catered to on ‘Genesis’ and ‘Zerkalo’, and ‘Kikinoue’ sounds like if Buzz Osbourne write for Napalm Death. It is impressive that these don’t sound as if they’ve been placed awkwardly together in a mismatched mash up mistake. Instead, your ears are lead on a journey through the world of Boris that makes perfect sense, in no predictable way. When the punk beats of the record break down to doom riffs unrivalled by... anyone to be honest, you know you're in for a wild ride.


‘HxCxHxC -Perforation Line-‘ is a particular standout track on the album where Boris draw on their more ambient works in their back catalogue to create what I can only call any annoying mix of shoe gaze and hardcore (shoecore, hardgaze, ambicore, punkgaze), or simply Boris at their imaginative best.


Crucial to Boris’ performances and ethos is tone. Wata is a guitar legend, who knows the importance of volume, feedback, and aggression. This record captures her vision with an appropriate level of ferocity. Koichi Hara and Fangsanalsatan, credited with mixing & mastering and recording respectively, clearly know the deal. Listen to ‘Loveless’ for bone crushing heavy guitars and raw punk dirt.


Somehow, Boris show no signs of slowing down. Through experimental phases in their career, some of which leave sour tastes in many metal-minded mouths, and from drone sludge roots, Atsuo, Takeshi, and Wata bring forth another gem that is both genre defining and defying. It has what I’m sure will be 2020s strongest riff contenders, blistering beats to blast your bass cone out, and every now and again they ease off the gas to remind you that they are champions of ambience too. A slice of perfection.


FFO: Earth, Eyehategod, Thou, Melvins


https://boris.bandcamp.com/album/no


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFXhts6UIjI


JC

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