Boris- Praparat (2013)

Boris- Praparat (2013)

In what seems to be another one of the radical transformation of Japanese distortions masters Boris, this new Praparat once again re arranges the Japanese titans careers, this time, we are taken completely by surprise on the very first track, simply called December, a move that definitely sets a foot on post rock shimmering strings and morning quite dynamics, drums shyly create a steady rhythm and guitars slowly start to roll, we are in front of a completely new face of the Japanese growling monster we have known all this time, but in the open minded world of Boris, this also manages to make sense, it all ends up making sense somehow.

Aika Elegy brings us back the beast, as glowing resonances move to the sides and the lurking monster appears all of a sudden, powerful towers of magnificent guitars one again fill the space, getting mixed with Sabbathesque beats and what could be called My Bloody Valentinesque textures a top of the wall of sound, Boris this times achive something amazing and that is actually revamp the sound of Kevin Shields and company, marrying the dense context of MBV music with their monolithic heaviness, in a way that deserves to be heard to be believed in, of course, we know these Japanese are not happy buy just covering their tunes of their favorite bands, The Melvins, MBV or Sabbath, they are completely reinvented here and transformed into something unique, something really special.

Evil Stack 3 attack us with the kind of harsh noise that could make fellow Japanese Merzbow proud, as sound cringes violently in an untamed way, just to give place to another apparently peaceful tune, this time named Sundokei Monologue, again this time expanding in a very radical way the loud/quiet dynamics of other bands, but giving the approach a completely stamp all of their own, Boris grows enormously in their attack, going from heavy to almost ethereal in an almost effortless way, the shape shifting into something close to shoegaze, but with a more intense vein, full of amazing guitars exercises getting developed as the distortion in the background starts to get powerful and finally devouring everything in a gracious and splendid way, just to be followed by the flesh ripping riffs of monstrous Method Of Error, possibly the heaviest thing we have heard this year, a complete riff feast that denies in a big way any sense of rhythm or melody in favor of pure muscle displayed here, the band is brutal in their approach and their rhythm section isn’t shy here, they are simply masters of destruction and they let their painful fury rip everything apart, putting to work in a beautiful way the lessons they obviously learned from Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover.

Once again powerful slashing riffs appear, announcing the arrival of a tune called Bataille Sucre, an amazing vibrating and painful quasi doom number (although most doom band never play this HEAVY) with screeching vocals, the band’s sound is intense, insistent and full of malevolence that brings to my mind the monumental work of an evil band called Eyehategod, an almost ritualistic hammering that may leave the causal listener all numbed, the band display an enormous power here, along with those high flying guitars ululating atop the mix in an almost apocalyptical manner, completely subjugating, again showing the band perfecting their very well-known craft for ultra-heavy music.

The heavy hitting continue in Perforated Line, just to be abruptly interrupted in abstract and weird ways, showing once again how open minded this band could be, then in Koppu No Uchigawa the band throws in some obscure almost cabaretesque organ piece, that opens space once again for more powerful shoegazing, this time in the form of Mirano, once again a great piece of heavily overdubbed texture music, full of mutating guitars and vocals, in a big way opening the gates for more of Boris currently schizophrenic attack, one that ends up with the MASSIVE Canvas, a piece that combines heaviness, minimalism and drone in a way Sunn O))) should be really paying attention.

Praparat is a very heavy statement, great music done in a completely artful way, fun and furious, a great record by an undoubtedly great band that keeps evolving in an uncompromising way and surprising us all along.