Boris are a trio of Japanese noise rockers who are masters of all things heavy, and Dear, a double album of superior quality, marks the band’s 25th anniversary as a going concern. Covering a range of bases from doomy slabs of heavy noise to riff-tastic stoner rock, distortion-soaked dream pop and beyond, there is nothing jaded about Dear, and nor is there anything clunky about the band’s subtle genre-skipping. In fact, this album exudes a vitality that many bands which have been around for half as long as this mighty leviathan frequently have difficulty mustering.
“DOWN - Domination of Waiting” kicks things off with a host of monolithic detonations that sound like the whole of Black Sabbath’s career concentrated into a few seconds and then repeated on a loop. Very slowly indeed. “Biotope” is more reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine, with its melody buried beneath a solid wall of distorted guitar sounds, while “Absolutego” betrays a certain swagger in its lively groove and a screaming solo from lead guitarist Wata. There can be no accusations that Boris have happened upon a certain sound and then spent their time tinkering with it slightly. Dear is the work of a group of experimentalists with all their faculties on full power and yet with the self-awareness not to drift into over-indulgent wibble.
Apparently, Dear was originally conceived as a farewell to fans after a long and illustrious career in the musical outlands. However, it is to be hoped that there’s now a substantial rethink at Boris HQ because this album is a sonic masterpiece that suggests the band are nowhere near a spent force. The fact that it marks Boris’ 25th anniversary is all the more remarkable.
Overleaf: watch the “Absolutego” video
