Pink - Boris

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Upbeat feeling, replayability, originality, experimentation
Disadvantages:	Some songs really are throwaway

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Boris are a Japanese drone/doom metal band formed in 1992. They've released at least 12 full length albums.

THIS album however is very different from the other material that they have released. I suppose spiritually it could be compared to Earth's release "Pentastar: In the style of demons" which isn't quite the same but also is another more 'rock' oriented album from a drone doom act. For those who are unfamiliar with this type of music, I will explain what it commonly entails: Very down tuned, slow guitar riffs, minimalistic vocals, ambient synthesizers, and very little percussion. On the other hand, this album (for the most part) tends towards more experimental and upbeat styles, with thrash and stoner rock being apparent. Vocals are clean and somewhat high pitched, though not overdone.

Strangely though, the first track is very 'drone' like and is also titled 'farewell'. I guess given their other material, they were trying to play some kind of joke on their listeners. But then after this, it rockets into the title track, which is extremely upbeat and only four minutes long as opposed to the typical 15-minute long drone epics. It's also kind of catchy, but bizarre, which gives it a lot of replay value. The next song to my surprise was reminiscent of Anthrax's 'caught in a mosh' in the main riff, and I don't know if this was intentional or not but it's pretty fun.

The last song however is the best, at ten minutes long with the same upbeat feel, and without becoming boring at all. It feels kind of like a sludgy 'thrash metal epic'; the drums are fantastic, there are solos, and in the end, it begins to cool down and almost 'grind' to a halt. I didn't really like that part exactly but all in all, it was a pretty cool finish to a pretty cool album.

However, there is one big drawback: Some of the songs on this album just sound plain...bad. The bass is way overdone, the percussion is essentially random, and the vocals are bizarre. I don't know if they were just messing around or trying to be as experimental as possible, but these tracks ( 'Nothing Special', 'Six, three times', and 'Afterburner') are just AWFUL. So this does give a slightly 'hit or miss' feel to the album as a whole which is a heavy strike against it.

The lyrics are also really weird and hard to decipher (at least from a first glance), but not so much in a way that they are just 'horrible'. So I suppose for people who like easily interpretable lyrics will find this a turn off.

Overall, this is probably Boris' most accessible release, and it is certainly at least deserving of a few listens, aside from several tracks. Thrash and stoner rock fans might find it pretty appealing, but people who prefer drone might not like it so much.

(Also posted on epinions.com)