Third Man Records is excited to announce limited-edition CD reissues of three classic Boris records -- 2019's LØVE & EVØL, plus catalog staples Feedbacker and Akuma No Uta. Each title will be limited to 2000 individually-numbered copies worldwide. All three are available now -- purchase LØVE & EVØL HERE, Feedbacker HERE and Akuma No Uta HERE.
LØVE & EVØL:
Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like “explosive” and “thunderous” barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billowing smoke, Boris has shared with audie ces across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way.
The next chapter in Japanese rock legends Boris’ story has arrived; their double LP LØVE & EVØL released on October 4, 2019 via Third Man Records. This double LP exists as two independent works, encapsulating conflicting connotations that interweave and become intricately entangled with one another, gradually eroding before becoming utterly singular. Continuing to tinker and toil with their sound since the 2017 release of DEAR, Boris have pivoted onward a more organic, non-grid literary style that LØVE & EVØL showcases.
In turns dynamic, drone, stoney, dreamy and beautiful, these albums contain multitudes. Album opener "Away From You" builds and compounds like a slowcore daydream fantasy, with the bassline gently mooring the song’s buoyancy and employing high octave oscillating feedback as a quaternary bandmate. From there, we descend in a tremoring blaze into "Coma" and make first encounter with the pacific, jarring hysteria of "EVOL." Both "Uzume" and "LOVE" play into one another, both full-volume immersive jams to blow your speakers and your mind. "In The Pain(t)," a carved out respite, washes like the sea into a pier. And at long last, "Shadow Of Skull" is a figmental 11 minute, 27 second whizzing, fuzzfest, providing a very gratifying ending to the double album journey. As heard here, Boris continues to propel their sonic palette into new mind-shreddy directions.
Feedbacker:
Essential to their catalogue, Boris’ 2003 release Feedbacker saw its first-ever North American issue on October 4, 2019 via Third Man Records. Feedbacker is a constant build that always rewards the listener - making a 10 minute long ambient lead intro to a guitar solo in “Part 2” feel every bit necessary and essential, marrying the heavy and ethereal in a way that only this group has been able to facilitate. “Part 3” begins with a wall of fuzzed-out sound leading into heavy Sabbath riffs and wall-shaking, ominous droning. When vocals hit, the moment feels huge and hallucinogenic, like swimming across an ocean of noise.
Boris’s catalogue spans over 20 full-length releases and has landed them as one of the most important metal bands of the new century. Preceding feedback-driven Sunn O))) and astral stoner rockers Sleep, Boris is a staple in heavy music that masterpieces like Feedbacker only solidify.
Akuma No Uta:
Akuma No Uta, released in 2003, saw a reissue out October 4, 2019 on Third Man Records. Akuma No Uta has been recognized as one of the top 200 releases from the 2000s by Pitchfork and one of Boris’ most commercially-successful releases of their full-length discography. The reissue features the original US cover art, which is a triumphant tribute to Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter. Boris even pinpoints the length of Akuma No Uta to 39 minutes, the same length as Drake’s classic. Akuma No Uta is a journey through wild drop tunings and fuzz. The introduction to the album slowly builds into noise, settling like the aftermath of an avalanche as it comes to a close. Although mixing many different genres, from drone metal to shoegaze to punk, Akuma No Uta maintains a strong cohesive experiential undercurrent. “Naki Kyoku” begins with sentimental shoegaze riffage leading into a whirlwind of drones and fuzz-heavy enough to tear a whole in space. “Ibitsu” is a thrash punk track at its core, speeding through powerful punchy vocals and layer-upon-layer of screaming guitar. Title track “Akuma No Uta” is an amalgam of tender melodic guitar and heavy noise tracks showing the concussive power and tenacious diversity that Boris does better than any player in the game.