Full disclosure: I’m not the most knowledgeable on Boris’ 80+ (!) release back catalog. I’ve heard the early bowel-tickling, amp-worshipping drone stuff (kinda neat, kinda boring), and I’ve heard some of the mid-period stuff that made them momentary Pitchfork darlings (see 2006 highlight Pink). I’ve also seen ‘em live a few times, which is enough to realize these guys are capable of serious brilliance, even as their restlessly schizophrenic discography jumps from head-scratching weirdness (they did an EP with the singer of the Cult, for example) to shockingly perfect new combinations of sound. The new album, Dear, is the first one in years that I’ve really spent time with, and it falls squarely in the latter category, blending thick doom and grueling sludge with minimalistic shoegaze, in turns crushing and tender. If I knew the band better I might know precisely how this slots into the larger mosaic of their career, but I don’t, so I won’t pretend to: all I know is Dear, the band’s 26th full-length album (or thereabouts), makes for a wonderful entry-point into a daunting catalog. As much as it feels like a cohesive release, the band never sits still, burning through pure doom-riffing workouts (“The Power”); rumbling drone exorcisms (“DEADSONG”); fractured dream pop minimalism that makes me want to use words like gauzy, gossamer, and gorgeous (“Beyond”; heavy shoegaze bliss (“Biotope”, one of the best moments on the record); and epic combinations of the above, which are somehow even more striking for their sprawling audacity (“Dystopia -Vanishing Point-“, a 12-minute behemoth that explodes with screaming leads, like latter-day J. Mascis at his best). The track I’m sharing here, “Memento Mori,” is one of the more straightforward “metal” tracks, but it’s this perfectly contained world unto itself: as heavy, cinematic, and haunting as anything I’ve heard this year. Doom chords latch onto a gallows-trudge of a drumbeat, but the darkness is deceptive: a mellotron fades in, slowly inverting the mood, and Takeshi’s vocals are warm, heartfelt, and chest-swelling — then the song drops away for an unexpectedly quiet finish. It’s hard to describe the actual combination of sounds because it seems so simple on the surface. I’m not quite sure what they tap into to make a song this achingly perfect, but this is the real thing, just like the rest of the album — the kind of music we rarely hear, sonically deep with an even deeper emotional core, heartbreaking and gorgeous despite all the clang and clamor. [From Dear, out now via Sargent House.] –Aaron Lariviere

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