One of the greatest joys of pressing play on a new Boris record is the excitement of hearing which direction they take each time around. Formed in 1992, the Japanese trio have dabbled in—and mostly perfected—the entire spectrum of heavy and heady music. They kicked off their career tipping their collective hat to the doom of 90s Earth and the sludge of the Melvins (the band’s name is a homage to the opening track of the Melvins’ Bullhead LP), and went on to master dizzying thrash, eerie psychedelia, glacial doom, and gorgeous shoegaze—they even toyed with J-pop on 2011’s New Album (Sargent House). Boris’s 24th full-length, Dear, which came out in July on Sargent House, focuses on the beyond-slow heaviness of their early work, and dips into SunnO)))-style power ambience and OM-inspired metal meditations. Initial reports coming out of the notoriously prolific band’s camp were that Dear was set to be their last record ever, but Boris left the studio with three albums’ worth of material, so it looks like their train will keep plowing on. This week’s show is part of a tour commemorating the group’s 25th anniversary. v
