Though solidly metal at their core, Boris can be a bit like a kaleidoscope; depending on which direction you are approaching them from, it can yield entirely different results. They’ve got records that could be filed under shoegaze (Flood), hard psych (Boris At Last:Feedbacker), thrash (Pink), big classic rock riffs (Heavy Rocks), noise (Vein and their various collabs with Merzbow) and J Pop (Attention Please) as well as a wide variety that mixes all of those elements together into something entirely new.
On their annual trek across our country, they chose to showcase their self-proclaimed first album Amplifier Worship which is far, far away from any J Pop grounds. With a title like that, you can guess what it’s all about, and you need to make sure you’ve got some heavy duty ear plugs before you walk in the venue. And starting the record with a song called “Huge” is the perfect match. Atsuo is typically behind the kit but on this tour he played the front man, flanked by Wata and her trusty black Les Paul to his right, Takeshi on the left with his signature double-necked guitar and bass, and Muchio at the drum kit behind him. There was also a drum kit in front and facing Muchio’s that Atsuo would play occasionally throughout the set.
Huge slabs of sound poured out from the amps, evoking another Boston molasses disaster. This is not toe-tapping music. This is what doom sounds, looks and feels like, being helpless in a crushing onslaught and inevitable demise. Ugly, scabrous, monotonous, and paradoxically utterly beautiful as well. You can see the direct lineage and influence on the likes of Sunn O))) or Primitive Man.
By the time “Hama” was played, the crowd welcomed the let up, and they entered somewhat more traditional rock music, albeit with a death-like grip on the accelerator. The most peaceful moment of the show came during the later part of “Ganbou-Ki” when Atsuo strode to the front of rail in silence, clutching two small hand cymbals. At a low frequency he would bring them together in a violent collision and then wave his arms in the air, sending diminishing and distorted sounds around the immediate area. I’m not sure if anyone not up front could hear that, but it was one of the cooler things I’ve experienced in a rock show. Until some idiot kept yelling “BORIS!” periodically and finally shut up.
The regular album material was augmented by a couple of older tracks off Archive Vol 1, “Scar Box” and “Mass Mercury” which also surfaced on a 1997 split single with the US band Tomsk-7. Wata’s tone has the power of felled redwood and the precision of a dentist’s drill, boring straight into your skull and smashing it in the process. Takeshi would set up giant sine waves of undulating bass that writhed around the room. Sonic terror or sonic bliss, depending on the listener. Everyone I saw (including some guy wearing a full face gas mask) landed in the latter group. Boris is always an intense live experience, and this one was hard to top.
Starcrawler was the hand-picked opener for the tour and this West Coast quintet is a mish-mash of garage, punk and glam, dolled up in pink and black western clothing. Singer Arrow De Wilde is the clear focal point of the band, lunging around the stage like a giant praying mantis on cheap trucker speed. They aren’t doing anything new, but then again I didn’t recognize their cover of Ween’s “With My Own Bare Hands” until I researched the set list the next day. Their cover of “Pet Sematary” was more expected and easily spotted. As their set came to a close, De Wilde spat towards the ceiling and walked off stage while Cash took his guitar and climbed up the stairs to the balcony, the show ending with it dangling over the crowd below. Certainly not the same flavor that Boris doled out later, but that usually makes for a better overall bill and tonight that was certainly true.
