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Boris - Amplifier Worship

 

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on this blog, mostly because of a lack of motivation on my part. However, I really want to start posting more, and writing the blog for Pvrth has brought me some newfound motivation (read the blog I'm writing for Pvrth here!). Therefore, I'm going to try to post at least once a month.

Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to a fantastic band that I've been listening to recently, Boris! Boris is an experimental noise/ drone metal band from Japan. I can't understand what they're saying, but that doesn't take away from the spiritual experience that is listening to one of their albums. Boris is also named after a song of the same name by one of my favorite bands, the Melvins. You may remember my review of the album Lysol by the Melvins (if not, read my Melvins - Lysol review here). Lysol's first two tracks "Hung Bunny" and "Roman Dog Bird" are slow and powerful drone tracks which rely on the grit of the guitars buzzing of the amps to create a hypnotizing soundscape which slowly drowns you in its massive prescience. Vocals eventually come in in the form of chanting and King Buzzo's uncanny moaned singing, but this never takes away from the ever present drone of the guitars. Boris's approach to drone is, unsurprisingly, somewhat similar to that of the Melvins, but is much more noisy and exciting.

Amplifier Worship is one of my favorite examples of Boris's drone work. Just reading the title, you know it's going to be good. In fact, I don't know if there will ever be a greater drone metal album title than "Amplifier Worship" because that is just what drone metal is! It is music about the appreciation of the sound of Amplifiers (and guitars) rather than melodies or lyrics. By listing to and appreciating this album, you are basically taking part in amplifier worship!

Getting back on topic, Boris has an aggressive, almost angry, approach to drone metal. This can be easily seen on the first song of this album, "Huge". It starts in silence, but the Japanese phrase subete ni kaeru (which roughly translates to "go home to everything" or "to everything, a frog" according to some YouTube comment I read. This could be an explanation for the album cover.) can be heard slowly getting louder and louder. Suddenly, it stops and a loud guitar sound crashes in, followed by amplifier feedback and a crunchy guitar drone. The song builds until the singer crashes in with kick drums, cymbal hits, and throat tearing, black metal-esque screams. Instead of giving us the calm, meditative drone of Lysol, Boris instead brings us harsh, tortured drone which, kind of like the vocals, is mildly reminiscent of black metal.

Since this is a drone metal album, I don't think it's worth it to do an in depth analysis of all of my favorite songs, you'd be better off just listening to them, so instead I'll just do some quick comments about notable points on the album.

"Ganbou-Ki" has a few cool drum parts and quiet parts, and the screamed vocals from "Huge". On the third track, "Hama," we get some interesting slow quiet parts and an awesome sludgy guitar part towards the end. "Kuruimizu" starts really punk with fast guitars, shouted vocals, and a real melody, but eventually slows down into drone within the first 3 minutes (the song is about 15 min long). This drone eventually transitions into a quiet dreamlike psychedelic portion with slide guitars. The last track, "Vomitself" is just a really gritty drone piece that reminds me of something Sunn O))) would do.

If you aren't familiar with drone metal, this album might be a bit of a challenge (I'd recommend Melvins - Lysol or Sunn O))) - Black One if you are trying to get into the genre), but if you can appreciate drone metal, this is a great album.

 

Rating: 7.5/10
Favorite Tracks: All
 
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