Boris lets his madness run free with a new album.
Since 1992 in Japan, the trio composed of Takeshi (guitar/bass/vocals, ex-Tacos UK), Wata (guitar/vocals) and Atsuo (drums/vocals, Ensemble Pearl, Sunn O)) live, ex-Tacos UK) has been creating a sound with multiple influences. The band announced for the summer of 2022 the release of Heavy Rocks 2022, their thirty-third album (and second of the year), which is reminiscent of an album released in 2002.
The band received the help of Sugar Yoshinaga (Buffalo Daughter, Metalchicks) and Kazuya Wakabayashi for some parts.
The album starts with She Is Burning, a track with a very Punkish energy which offers us chaotic leads on efficient and thick riffs. Vocal parts are also very motivating, echoing the frenzied saxophone before Cramper offers us federative choruses filled with choirs. There are also some more ominous sounds joining the track’s overflowing rage, just like on My Name Is Blank, a rather short song which offers a very hooking simplicity coupled with catchy vocal parts. Once again, the screaming harmonics bring a dissonant dimension, which leads us to Blah Blah Blah and its… disturbing introduction. Shrill noises, then a heavy bass which lets ominous vocals shroud us before screams enter the mix, followed by strange Doom influences, then Question 1 brings the raw energy back. The band doesn’t forget their dissonant Drone roots while coupling them with strange and heady sounds, which will eventually explode, leaving us with a short respite before Nosteratou slows the tempo down with a thick and crushing sound. Ghostly vocals integrate the dreamy mix before Ruins unveils more accessible, motivating and almost playful elements on a raw and energetic basis. The contrast is extremely effective while remaining quite disconcerting for an unaccustomed ear, just like Ghostly Imagination and its modern Industrial influences which are easily mixed with the heavy and powerful blast. Chained stays in this chaotic mix between bewitching vocals, visceral screams and piercing riffs on a lively base, then (not) Last Song will surprise us with a melancholic quietness, tortured keyboards and strings, but also desperate vocal parts to close the album.
The good thing about Boris is that it’s impossible to know what to expect from a track, and even less of an album. Still, the band manages to prove their mastery of sound, and Heavy Rocks 2022 is one of them, mixing raw energy with more melancholic and worked tones.
85/100