Boris

Japan's musical underground has long been fascinated with sublime destruction. The country's denizens have produced an ample catalog of huge, enveloping sounds in the genres of rock, noise, and metal since the early '70s. Contemporary metal gods Boris fit smack dab in the middle of this continuum. With its latest release, Pink, the band combines riffs of lumbering power with quick-paced tempos and heavy doses of shoegaze wash. Though Boris has been embraced by fans of sloth-paced metal since its U.S. tours with Sunn0))) and Earth, Pink shines for its charging anthems. On songs like "Woman on the Screen," "Nothing Special," and the title track, the band proves itself a raging power trio with burning guitar leads cutting through neck-deep layers of fuzz. Pink's closing track, "Just Abandoned My-Self," captures best the heavy rock overload that Boris has to offer. Clocking in at a startling 18 minutes, the song charges along before evaporating into a blissfully demented fog.