Boris — Amplifier Worship
Amplifier Worship is their second full-length and was originally released on Mangrove records in 1998. It is also their second album to be made widely available thanks to Southern Lord after the Absolutego re-release 2 years ago. The packaging is quite cool and comes with a gummi worm inserted in the spine of the jewel-case. I guess it’s because frogs eat worms. I am myself still wondering whether I should eat it or not... The design is fab, so thumbs, Mr O’Malley!
The CD begins in an extremely drone way. Huge sounds like Sunn or like Boris first album, Absolutego, before mutating in a very grim and mean sludge fest accompanied with tortured vocals. The second track is the first of a hat-trick of incredibly excellent songs. 15 minutes long, Ganbou-ki sounds like the Melvins at their meanest, rawest, dirtiest peaks of insanity. After 5 minutes, it turns into a percussion jam, not that far from that spacey hippy stuff the Boredoms specialised in lately. The constant bass rumble makes sure that there is no flower power thing going on though. Not able to stay quiet for 2 minutes, Wata contributes with loads of little noises and feedback. Then it ends up with a really groovy bass/drum bit and guitar solo (full of echo) before returning to sludgier loudness. Full circle. Hama is the shortest track (7 minutes). A frog croaks before the three wild Japanese launch a metallic punk attack that grabs you by the throat. After a brief moment of calm, Wata is drawn into a solo frenzy with Atsuo and Takeshi duetting on vocals. Intense. Kuruimizu is my fav track of the lot. It starts as a very punkish track before the doom/sludge demons take over. Wata shows her incredible skills once again, Takeshi bass sound is fuckkkkkkking heavy and dirty. Black Sabbath can be found somewhere in this song. But there is a limit to the amount of grimness one can take, and Boris know that perfectly... So here they go: almost 10 minutes of slocore / post-rock. This bit really shows the route they were going to take on their third full-length, the record that brings tear to your eyes, the overwhelming mountain of emotions: Flood. Those ten minutes are just eerie, beautiful, emotional, intense. I feel every second of it in my guts. Vomistelf marks a return to the nasty stuff. Real grim slow riffs à la Sunn 0))) for 15 minutes, ending in a 2 minutes long buzz.
Amplifier Worship sums up everything Boris have ever done: the daring side, the drone à la Absolutego, the melodies à la Flood and the catchy side of Heavy Rocks. Any time I spin this CD, it fucks up with my mind. One minute I feel like jumping all over the room and climbing on the walls, the other it sends me on the sofa to weep for a while. My whole nerve system is acting silly when I expose myself to this Amplifier Worship. I swear that I am going to build a shrine in their honour. They just deserve it.
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Check the other Boris reviews on Musique Machine here
Photo by Shiva-Eri