Music review - Flood by Boris
Few bands have been as prolific as Boris. A quartet, later turned power trio, Boris, consisting of Wata on guitar, Takeshi on bass and Atsuo on drums, has been at the forefront of drone and noise music since its' inception in 1992. The Japanese rockers have dabbled in everything - from doom metal, to drone metal, to noise rock, shoegaze, power pop and even film score inspired music. The band has a huge catalogue, consisting of more than forty albums, not counting any collaborations or solo work.
Heavily influenced by the Japanese hardcore scene, Boris' first two outings are heavy drone metal albums, both good, and important in their own way to the band's progression and style. But the one album that stands above all, even in their thirty-year history, will forever be Flood.
As mentioned earlier, Boris don't have an established style, nor do they have a formula, like most bands tend to gravitate towards. They have their preferences, but each outing should be considered a standalone feature (unless it's one of their multi-album projects). That being said Flood is nothing like they've created - it's heavy, it's serene, it's harsh and it's beautiful. A masterwork in post-metal, minimalism and ambient music. Consisting of one track with four movements, the album is a mostly- instrumental conceptual piece - a tsunami and flash flood. As program pieces go, it isn't anything groundbreaking, but considering that any sort of metal genre hardly does anything resembling a program piece, makes this album an extraordinary and one of a kind find.
The first suite begins with a simple riff, played over and over again. A clean guitar, with a little reverb dazzled on top of it, evoking images of the vast and calm sea - unchanging, a bit playful, very fluid. Soon enough, a second guitar joins the loop, creating a perpetual canon (ie same melody, same speed, played at a different point). There is a sense of change, it is still the sea, but this time there is more movement under the waters. A third guitar appears, adding to the canon, with a fourth one following soon enough. The sea is changing drastically, something is stirring, the image of a darkening clouds and underwater vortexes springs to mind. Drums, heavily drenched in reverb, flow in and out, as if at random intervals, signaling the coming of something great an evil. An excellent example of an ambient drum solo. The drumming becomes louder and wilder, completely submerging the guitar. The solo continues until we reach the 14th minute mark and the second suite begins.
The second movement begins with a simple 3/4 drum loop accompanied by two guitar chords and a root bass. Another guitar tunes in, a gentle fuzzy solo, conjuring up the sense of serenity and melancholy. A distant beach, somewhere amidst the nether. As the piece continues, the chords and drum stay the same, but the solo changes into a riff of its' own - crunchy and more on the low-end. There is darkness in the horizon, but it's so far off that there is no need to worry. By the end of the song, we reach another guitar solo, much more distorted, but still melancholic. Reminiscent of 70s blues-rock, the Wata wears her influences on her sleeve and does so proudly, adding her own spin on the style, with guitar swells, magnet picks, and a compressed fuzzed tone.
The third suite begins as an ending to the previous - the drums are gone, the arpeggiated chords float on and a swelling guitar solo tries to break through, as if struggling not to drown. Here we have our first vocal performance of the album, sung by Takeshi the bassist, with the drummer Atsuo providing backing vocals. Although the melody is simple and is a little off-key, the intent is more than obvious - there is a growing sadness and an acceptance of what's to come. As the vocals end, the chords slowly fade, being replaced by the same progression, but louder, noisier and evil. Then it suddenly cuts off and we have the last few clean notes. The calm before the storm. Drums bombard the listener, on their trail come highly distorted guitars and a thick and heavy bass tone. The tsunami is coming. Nature rejoices in her power as the waves come crashing down, sweeping away all in their path. Atsuo begins to sing once more, the lyrics dealing with the theme of rejuvenation and the need for destruction.
One of the most talked aspects of this album is the solo on the third piece - a masterfully crafted work, combing elements of doom metal and psychedelic rock. The solo would never have worked though, if it wasn't for the buildup both from the beginning of the movement and the drum break. The riff continues on, playing around a drum break, with the inkling of a solo from the beginning of the movement. The solo which was trying to break through the waters in the previous suite is now penetrating the waves and leading the vanguard. And as the solo end, we are left with the primeval riff, massive in volume and tone. And behind it, a wall of noise of screeching guitars builds up. The image is terrifying - the tsunami has struck, the flood has engulfed everything in it's path, the screams of the victim, both living and dead, try to outcry the natural disaster, but are unable.
The fourth and final movement begins at around the 48thminute mark. The riff from the previous piece slowly gets submerged in reverb, on top of it play sparkly, clean chords with reverb and delay. The most post-rock inspired part of the entire album can be found here, with the main riff slowly disappearing, and the chords becoming the center focus, fuzzy melodies emerging and submerging at a whim, forming their own little, personal crescendos. The guitars soon fade as well, leaving behind abstract sounds - feedback and noise. The disaster is over. The water demons came and went, leaving behind their shadows - a world destroyed and unpopulated. With that the volume lowers and the album ends with a clank - the same sound from the first movement, indicating the cyclical nature of disasters.
The album is in a league of its own. There are many like it, but nothing can compare. The sheer scope of the sounds used is something extremely difficult to come by in any underground band, let alone in mainstream music. This, more than anything, feels like a passion project and a product of a young band trying to experiment and see what high-concept artistic ideas they could possibly turn into music. FLOOD has its flaws, but they are so far and few between, they are easily drowned under what the album does right.
It can be a hard listen, especially to anyone who doesn't have an affinity to slow and heavy music, but to anyone even remotely interested in post-rock and doom metal, it's a must-listen. On the other hand, it is an excellent entry into the world of metalgaze, possessing almost all elements of the style.
An absolute classic.