Japanese fuzz-loving legends Boris are rightfully considered one of the most vital names in heavy rock and metal, particularly for lovers of doom, drone, psychedelia and other more experimental styles. As such, they’re often one of the first names newcomers will hear when discovering these genres and trying to fill the gaps in their knowledge. The problem is that the band have been around for almost three decades. Boris’ discography boasts a staggering 26 studio albums (by Wikipedia’s count), and that’s before mentioning the countless EPs and collaborative releases they’ve put their name to over the years. Where the fuck are potential new fans supposed to start? The band’s sound is so varied, so willing to lurch from one style to another on each new release, that it’d be all too easy to dive into an album of theirs that just doesn’t happen to be to your tastes, then forever turn your back on one of the world’s greatest and most creative bands.
The band have even explained in the past that there’s a difference between albums released as “Boris” and those released as “boris”, and that this is intended as a guide for the listener. The former is intended to reflect things that “come from the heart of rock, things [where] we can say ‘this is rock’” and the latter is for “experimental music that comes from inside and emanates outward.” Thus far, this is the closest the band have come to simplifying their discography, and in truth, it only makes it all the more confusing. They have differing albums with the same name, they have an album called New Album (which is of course no longer new) and they have altering versions of releases depending on where you are in the world or which format you buy on.
As music fans, many of us like to own everything from our favourite artists, and devour anything they put out to digest every creative decision they ever make. What makes Boris so unique is that it’s almost impossible to do this with them. If you’re someone who likes to trace the trajectory of a band’s career, Boris will either confound and frustrate, or inspire and captivate you. They’ve made a complete lack of direction, something most bands try to avoid, their only defining trait. As such, there probably isn’t a soul alive who can truly claim to love everything Boris have ever released, but there probably also isn’t a rock or metal fan out there who won’t enjoy at least one of their albums. For Boris, no convention is too sacred to defy, and no crazy idea is too out-there to attempt.
This piece is designed to both help newcomers find their footing and aid established fans in discovering new sides of this uniquely dynamic band. Here we explain each album’s role in the band’s progression, and split each of their LPs down by style, quality and more in an attempt to simplify one of the most perplexing discographies out there.
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Absolutego (1996)
Ask anyone how to make it as a successful band and the absolute last piece of advice you’re likely to get is to make your debut studio album a single hour-long song full of bulldozing riffs and impenetrable fuzz. But Boris aren’t your average band, and Absolutego isn’t your average full-length. Whilst far from the band’s pièce de résistance, it’s a ballsy release worthy of praise for sheer audacity alone. The production is shoddy and the drums tinny, which initially seem like downsides to an otherwise powerful release, but in truth their fuzzy nature serves only to bolster the thick atmosphere that lies over this track. The enveloping aura Absolutego carefully constructs is maintained throughout, making it one tough listen, but it helps to ensure that, taken as an entire piece, the track is a magnificent example of just how powerful slow-building, noise-driven compositions can be.
FFO: drone, noise, sludge
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Amplifier Worship (1998)
Notable as one of the band’s only multiple-song records to feature no instrumental tracks, with Takeshi taking on the role of lead vocalist for the first time, Amplifier Worship does what it says on the tin. Hefty drones are still the fuel behind this album, but it’s a more adventurous and dynamic affair than its predecessor, paying homage to Boris’ namesake, the Melvins, whilst beginning to flesh out their sound and hint at their huge potential. The band’s second full-length still revolves primarily around gargantuan riffs and drones, but touches of psychedelia (‘Ganbou-Ki’, ‘Hama’) and even post-rock (‘Kuruimizu’) also began to rear their head here.
FFO: drone-doom, sludge
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Flood (2000)
Leaping right from Amplifier Worship, one of the band’s heaviest albums, straight to the more ambient Flood is notably strange, but doing so gives you a great sense of what to expect from this eccentric trio of musicians. Flood doesn’t so much drift in a new direction as it does reinvent the band’s sound entirely, taking the atmospheric post-rockisms and proggy flourishes that made up just a fraction of their previous sound and expanding them tenfold until they take the limelight for themselves. This record favours minimalism across the four parts that comprise its seventy-minute runtime, but is still recognisably Boris due to the hypnotic use of repetitive drones, which are a staple of their early work. Here those drones are lush and pretty as opposed to harsh and menacing, though it would be misleading to say that Flood is devoid of heaviness. It is, however, an album which requires a healthy dose of patience (particularly during the drawn-out intro), but it has nevertheless become a cult classic amongst fans of the band’s more ambient side.
FFO: post-rock/metal, ambient
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Heavy Rocks (2002)
Heavy Rocks is a landmark album in Boris’ career, but it’s also where things start to get a bit more confusing, considering it shares its name with a 2011 album sometimes known instead as “Heavy Rocks 2”. To differentiate, it’s easiest to just remember that this record has an orange cover, whilst the latter has a purple one. Heavy Rocks (2002) marks another drastic shift for the band stylistically, as they move back towards fuzzy riffs but away from prolonged drones in favour of snappier offerings of Kyuss-tinged stoner metal, albeit still downtuned to fuck and heavy as all hell. It’s the first record in the band’s catalogue to feature more conventional song runtimes, and as such is not a terrible starting point if the more abstract early recordings have you perplexed.
FFO: stoner rock, doom/sludge
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Akuma no Uta (2003)
The band’s fifth full-length is notable for being the first, chronologically speaking, to currently be available on Spotify. If that’s your streaming service of choice, this could be a good entry point for you, but be aware that the service in fact has both versions of the record with two alternate covers – the original features a small doodle on a white background, whilst the 2005 Southern Lord reissue (which also features a prolonged version of the ambient intro track) pays tribute to the artwork of Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter. A third cover mimics the cover of Venom’s Welcome To Hell, but this is considerably rarer. Musically Akuma no Uta doesn’t stray too far, on the whole, from proceeding record Heavy Rocks (2002), but benefits from rawer production and the inclusion of epic 12-minute stoner jam ‘Naki Kyoku’, which is a must-hear. Suffice to say, this is another fan favourite, and worth hearing early on in your Boris education.
FFO: stoner rock, doom/sludge
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Boris at Last: Feedbacker (2003)
Mere months after Akuma no Uta came Boris At Last: Feedbacker (also referred to simply as Feedbacker), a return to the band’s penchant for single-song albums, albeit broken down into five parts. The record is less easily defined than its predecessor, moving through a few different styles and touching upon each of the varied styles they had adopted up to that point. The drones here have a hallucinatory allure, drifting onwards rather than swirling ominously, so much so that when the fuzzed-out riffs finally arrive, you almost forget that they’ve been missing. Where Akuma no Uta delivered Motörhead-rivalling power in spades, Feedbacker makes you wait for it, but that patience is rewarded to maddening degrees. As the record gradually wades into a gloriously psychedelic onslaught of noise, guitarist Wata’s talent truly shines – no wonder they put her on the cover.
FFO: drone, post-rock, stoner metal
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The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked (2004)
The first in a three-part series completed in 2006, The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked sees more experimentation from the trio, with it being one of the band’s only records to feature no vocals. Perhaps more notable is the absence of percussion, which lends the ambient and drone textures that dominate the record a more formless, ethereal aura. If you’re interested in picking up a physical copy of this, or indeed any of the other parts in the trilogy, you may be forced to fork out a fair bit of cash and most likely navigate Discogs or a similar service. A four-disc compilation CD with an extra fourth part was made available exclusively in Japan, but for those of us further afield the albums can at least be found on YouTube.
FFO: drone, ambient
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Dronevil (2005)
A double album split into two distinct movements entitled Drone and Evil, this record boasts yet more innovation from Boris. Whilst Drone can be played on its own as an ambient piece and Evil operates in doomier realms, the two can in fact be played in tandem to form something altogether more unique and expansive. Whilst Drone can be a somewhat slow and tedious listen in isolation, its experimental ambient textures are given new life when played alongside the album’s fuzzier second half, where they amplify the atmosphere and bolster the intensity. A later extended version known as Dronevil -Final- can also be found.
FFO: doom, post-rock, ambient
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Soundtrack from Film “Mabuta no Ura” (2005)
Don’t be fooled by this album’s title – though this is billed as the soundtrack to a film entitled Mabuta no Ura, the film in question is entirely fictional, existing solely in the band’s imagination. Sonically, it’s mainly ambient mood music, perfect as a bit of light background noise, save for ‘A Bao a Qu’ where heavy guitars rise out of the shimmering void with little warning. This track is a point of confusion for many, as it shares its name with a song on The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked, which differs considerably. Even more perplexing, however, is the fact that two versions of this record exist – one released by the labels Catune (on CD) and Inoxia (on vinyl) and another by Brazilian label Essence Music, which features a different arrangement and tracklist. For those interested, the former version can be found on Spotify.
FFO: ambient, psych
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Pink (2005)
Probably the band’s most well-known album, Pink helped establish Boris as a well-known name in the scene, despite them having been a creative force for some time by this point. It’s not hard to see why the album’s done so well, either. The standard CD version is one of the band’s most melodic and conventional albums to date, without sacrificing their eccentric strain of creativity. The stoner riffs are relentlessly infectious, whilst hints of doom, sludge, noise, punk, shoegaze and ambient help ensure that even Boris’ most “normal” album doesn’t get lumped in alongside more generic stoner rock. The record’s LP version clocks in at a whopping 72 minutes compared to the standard version’s 47, though it’s also worth noting that a 2006 Southern Lord reissue extends lengthy closing track ‘Just Abandoned Myself’/’俺を捨てたところ’ by a further eight minutes and a ten-year anniversary edition features nine previously unreleased bonus tracks. For most bands, Pink would be the sort of album that marks a left-field turn against the grain – it’s testament to the band’s unique way of operating that it is considered Boris’ most commercially viable.
FFO: stoner rock, hard rock, doom
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The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2/3 (2006)
Completing a trilogy, the two follow-up albums to 2004’s The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked were released concurrently a couple of years later. The three-part series continues to be dominated by drone here, with the lack of vocals and percussion standing out, particularly coming after the comparatively conventional Pink. ‘No Ones Grieve Part 2’, taken from …2, is the first to feature drums, and can also be found on 2008’s Smile with added vocals. ‘No Ones Grieve Part 1’ can, confusingly, be found on …3 and has seemingly no sonic connection to part 2. If you’re a fan of vaporous drone, this series is well worth a listen, but no one could forgive you for skipping it if riffs are more your thing.
FFO: drone, ambient
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Vein (2006)
If Pink somewhat compiled the disparate styles Boris have dabbled in over the years, Vein sought to divide these differing styles once again, whilst opening up even more new stylistic avenues for the trio. It’s easiest to view Vein as a double-album, even though it is more frequently thought of as two separate albums released under the same name. One of these albums favours drone, and comprises two lengthy tracks bathed in gloriously filthy feedback, whilst the other is primarily strewn from the world of hardcore punk. This latter version features much shorter tracks, which operate as lively bursts of noise-punk topped by drummer Atsuo’s venomous yells. Making things even trickier, Vein also saw a new version in 2013 that’s not so much a reissue as it is an alternate mix – that all the tracks are untitled just makes things that little bit more complex. Diehard music fans are often overcome with a need to own every release and understand every creative decision, but the beauty of Boris is that doing so is near-impossible. Vein highlights this more than perhaps any other Boris record.
FFO: drone, hardcore, noise-punk
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Smile (2008)
Things don’t get any simpler in the Boris canon from here on out, we’re afraid. Smile is one of the band’s most fascinating, fractured albums, incorporating a myriad of styles and introducing some experimentation with manipulated sound, drum machines and samples. After its initial release through Diwphalanx Records, an alternative version came via Southern Lord in America, with an altered tracklist, different artwork (by Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))), who also guests on the album) and a very much noticeable change in sound. Each version even has its own mix handled by different people. It’s also been pointed out that ‘Dead Destination’ resembles ‘No Ones Grieve Part 2’ from The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2 and that a section of Vein’s seventh untitled song appears on the (also untitled) final track to Smile. The band have joked that this is their “sellout” album but it’s actually one of their weirdest, and only made more odd by the appearance of a few catchier numbers in amongst psychedelic power ballads, noise rock jams and stratosphere-reaching post-rock. It’s a thoroughly entertaining album either way.
FFO: psych rock, doom, experimental metal
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New Album (2011)
After a few years off, 2011 was a busy twelve months for everyone’s favourite oddball trio. Boris made sure that fans would have a hard time explaining which new album they meant when discussing the band going forward (“Have you heard Boris’ new album? No, not that one”) with this one. New Album sees the band swing back into shoegazey textures, with shades of pop replacing the band’s more typical fuzz-loving sound. The album shares several tracks with both of their later 2011 albums, albeit reimagined to fit the new sound. Perhaps not an album for the riff devotee but another example of the band’s wild ambition. If catchy hooks and dreamy atmospherics are to your taste, check this one out.
FFO: atmospheric rock, shoegaze, dream pop
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Heavy Rocks (2011)
More commonly referred to as Heavy Rocks 2 or Heavy Rocks (2011), this follow-up to their 2002 landmark is suitably named, as it revives the fuzzy, groove-loving spirit of the original. That said, it is arguably heavier, bursting into life with the bluesy stomp of ‘Riot Sugar’ and seldom straying far from metallic textures from here on out. Despite one or two experimental detours (‘Leak – Truth, yesnoyesnoyes -’ is suitably odd), Heavy Rocks 2 is a surprisingly conventional release from the trio, considering it features nothing you haven’t heard on previous albums and a reliance on simpler song structures. That does however make it an oddly fun listen – it’s rare that you can switch your brain off and simply enjoy a Boris record. The driving thrash riff of ‘Galaxians’ is sure to have you smiling, for one.
FFO: stoner rock, doom, heavy metal
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Attention Please (2011)
Evidently it wasn’t enough for Boris to release the familiar sounds of Heavy Rocks 2, so on the very same day they also dropped Attention Please, a much less predictable affair. Guitar maestro Wata takes over lead vocal duties for this record, and leads the band through a few varying styles. Though the band maintain their fuzzy wobble even in their lightest moments, Attention Please sees them straddle dream pop and shoegaze, with the tense title-track kicking things off with a dancey beat, announcing from the very start that this will be an entirely different beast to Heavy Rocks 2. Whilst a lot of this album is, admittedly, rather forgettable, there’s an intriguing atmosphere that lies over the ghostly vocals and textural guitar of ‘See You Next Week’ or the strangely ruminative college rock of ‘Spoon’. A divisive album, but the beauty of Boris is that even if this one isn’t for you, they’ll be doing something different next time around anyway.
FFO: dream pop, noise pop, shoegaze
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Präparat (2013)
Initially an ultra-limited vinyl-only release available solely in Japan, you could be forgiven for missing this one entirely. On the surface, Präparat appears to be a return to the murky drone sound that first made Boris a band worth paying attention to, but it doesn’t quite serve to reset their sound. Rather, it simplifies it, and in many ways benefits from sticking to sounds that the trio have already mastered. At just 38-minutes, it isn’t the behemoth that their debut album was, though it is faintly reminiscent of Absolutego in its favouring of downtuned, droney guitars. However, where Präparat differs is that it is a deceptively pretty release, with shoegaze textures and dreamy vocals featuring heavily throughout. It’s far from the band’s piece-de-resistance, but this is an interesting stopgap worth hearing for those invested in Boris’ evolution.
FFO: drone, shoegaze
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Noise (2014)
One of the band’s must-hear albums, Noise sees the disparate strands of Boris’ diverse sound coalesce into one colossal album. Eighteen-minute centrepiece ‘Angel’ is one of the band’s best and boldest tracks ever, with the masterful guitarwork taking centre stage as it helps the album ascend into the stratosphere. But alongside this ambitious track are atmospheric soundscapes (‘Siesta’), ten-minute bouts of hardcore (‘Quicksilver’) and the deceptively infectious tones of the opening two tracks, ‘Melody’ and ‘Vanilla’. There’s even pop in the form of the admittedly lacklustre ‘Taiyo No Baka’. It’s a heavy-handed album with no restraint, and as such can be an overwhelming experience when heard in full, but this also means that it serves as an excellent window into Boris’ sound for newcomers.
FFO: Boris
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Urban Dance/Warpath/Asia (2015)
Having released Heavy Rocks 2 and Attention Please in unison four years prior, Boris outdid themselves in 2015 with the simultaneous release of Urban Dance, Warpath and Asia whilst on tour with Endon. Urban Dance is the heaviest and least droney of these releases, particularly on ‘Surrender’, but all three LPs share an inclination for experimental noise and drone. Their closest touchpoints are probably The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked series. Oddly enough, the physical product features art that’s completely different from what the band shared online. This band, eh?
FFO: noise, drone
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Dear (2017)
What makes Boris so great is their complete disregard for how things are normally done. Convention, genre, rules – they all go out the window in the Boris discography. So whilst most fans of noise, drone and other “abnormal” genres often confuse a complete lack of melody as being synonymous with experimentation, Boris know that the key to truly innovative songwriting is to use any and all techniques at their disposal whenever and however they see fit. Dear exemplifies this well, being almost as imbued with infectious melody as it is drenched in thick feedback. The track ‘Absolutego’, named after their debut, is perhaps the standout, a riff-heavy track that seems to combine the rough but radio-friendly sound of grunge with the potency of heavy metal.
FFO: doom/stoner, metal, grunge, noise
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LφVE & EVφL (2019)
By now you’re likely used to Boris jumping between musical extremes, so LφVE & EVφL’s bizarre setup should hardly be a surprise. Split into two distinct halves (one dreamy and soothing, the other doomy and ominous) the album is nonetheless connected by a proclivity for formless songs that seem to drift without purpose instead of flow with intent. This makes it a highly atmospheric album with little in the way of rhythm but lots in the way of impressive soundscapes that are all too easy to find yourself lost within. All sides of the band’s diverse sound can be found here, from the soothing post-rock opener ‘Away From You’ and shoegazing follow-up ‘Coma’ to the slow-building doom of ‘Uzume’ and the subtle melancholy of ‘In The Pain(t)’.
FFO: ambient, noise, doom
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1985 (2019)
One of the less-talked about albums in the Boris catalogue, 1985 was initially a fanclub-only release that has now inevitably been released unofficially on YouTube. Nevertheless, it’s another reminder of the band’s varied tastes, incorporating digitised soundscapes and J-pop vocals with the still very much present guitars largely taking a backseat here. These songs are remarkably stripped-back and devoid of frills for a Boris release, and it’s fair to say that fans of the band’s heavier phases will want to give this one a wide berth. But if you liked New Album, it’s well worth a shot.
FFO: J-pop, rock
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NO (2020)
The band’s most recent full-length, NO is perhaps one of their most well-received releases of all time, being marked by some as a return to form for the band. This, of course, requires you to have lost interest in the band’s music to begin with, which many never did, but its place as a comparatively straightforward metal record has left the metalheads following the band very much happy regardless. They’ll no doubt be disillusioned by whatever unpredictable move Boris make next, but they’re not wrong to devour NO for all it’s worth. It’s an incredible album, and one of the band’s most cohesive offerings to date. Written and released during quarantine, it reflects a world in suffering during an especially bleak period of history. NO takes everything heavy the band have ever done and dilutes it into a thrilling 40 minutes full of hardcore bursts of antagonism, gigantic doom riffs and hard rock hooks. Another must-hear record.
FFO: metal, doom, hardcore, rock
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Where next?
If you’ve been working through this list and finding which Boris albums are to your liking, then congratulations on reaching the end. It’s not an easy feat after 28 years of genre-hopping. Thus far, however, this list has scarcely scratched the surface of the band’s discography. Throughout the band’s catalogue lies countless EPs, singles, splits and collaborations with the likes of Merzbow, Sunn O))), Endon, The Cult’s Ian Astbury and more. We’ll let you find your way from here though, with this list having hopefully helped you understand this batshit band just a little bit better.
For more on Boris, check out our extensive interview with them, Mono and Envy.
Words: George Parr
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