Today the hugely influential Japanese heavy rock band Boris share a second single from their forthcoming album ‘W’, which will be released on January 21st through Sacred Bones Records. “Beyond Good and Evil” captures the intuitive use of dynamics and contrast that Borisare famed for, building from delicate beginnings to a vast crescendo, taking inspiration from the devastating past of Wata’s hometown, Hiroshima. Speaking on the track, the band comment: “There is a vast magnitude in a huge mushroom cloud and in decaying ruins. We feel both the sadness and beauty of these things at the same time; that is who we are. This video was made from the perspective of a mushroom cloud. The album “W” focuses on Wata ’s vocals – and she is from HIROSHIMA.”
In an effort to sublimate the negative energy surrounding everyone in 2020, Boris focused all of their energy creatively and turned out the most extreme album of their long and widely celebrated career, ‘NO‘. The band self-released the album in the height of lockdown, desiring to get it out as quickly as possible, but intentionally called the final track on the album “Interlude” while planning its follow-up.
The follow-up comes with ‘W’, the band’s debut album for Sacred Bones Records. On all of ‘W’, Boris’s Wata carries the lead vocal duties. In general the styles on the album range from noise to new age, as is typical with one of our generation’s most dynamic and adventurous bands, but there is a thread of melodic deliberation through each song that successfully accomplishes the band’s goal of eliciting deep sensation. Be it through epic sludgy riffs, angelic vocal reverberations or the seduction of their off-kilter percussion, Boris will have you fully under their spell. This languid and liquifying sound is perfectly represented in the beautiful Kotao Tomozawa cover art and in suGar yoshinaga’s sound production.
‘NO’ and ‘W’ weave together to form ‘NOW,’ a duo of releases that respond to one another. In following their hardest album with this sensuous thundering masterpiece they are creating a continuous circle of harshness and healing, one that seems more relevant now than ever and shows the band operating at an apex of their musical career.
More about Boris:
Boris formed in 1992 and eventually arrived at the band’s current lineup of Takeshi, Wata, and Atsuo into 1996. In the 29 years since, Boris has tirelessly explored their own rendition of what is heavy through methods entirely their own. Though the depths of their “heaviness” may intensify, their unique musicianship defies classification in any one genre or style, so let’s just call it real “heavy music” in extreme color. Their music has been called a “game changer” regarding the leading edge of the world’s rock scene, and that influence is limitless. They enter realms that cannot be described simply in terms of the “explosive sound” or “thunderous roars” that have become their trademark.
Recently, Boris guitarist Wata released her own signature fuzz pedal, “Hizumitas,” via theEarthQuaker Devices, and the band continues to increase their production activity in their own DIY style from their own unique standpoint. In 2022, Boris will greet their 30th anniversary as a band and they only intend to show further elevation in the substantiality and intensity of their works.
‘W’ will be released January 21st, 2022 via Sacred Bones Records. Pre-order the album here.
