ALBUM REVIEW: Boris – W

Sacred Bones

Released: 21.01.22

The perpetually, gloriously baffling Boris follow 2020’s self-released NO with W (it spells NOW, see?). Where NO was 40 minutes of thrash and D-beat fury, W is mostly a delve into their dreamier tendencies, and it’s lovely. Aside from the riffs of The Fallen there’s not much here that’s metal. The opener is a languid but unsettling drift, while Icelina is so Cocteau Twins-indebted it’s surprising when Wata’s voice comes in rather than Elizabeth Fraser’s. Drowning By Numbers is a twitchy dub-punk workout and Beyond Good & Evil sees their MBV fetish return unabated.

The latter half of the album is more abstract but still very much in a shoegaze/dream pop vein. Not their most cohesive album, but there’s a lot to love.