Boris

Boris are a Japanese experimental band formed in 1992 in Tokyo. The band is named after a song on American rock band Melvins’ album Bullhead (1991). Its original lineup was lead vocalist Atsuo, guitarist Takeshi and Wata, and drummer Nagata. After Nagata left the band in 1996, Atsuo became the drummer and backing vocalist, with Takeshi on lead vocals. Wata has also occasionally performed lead vocals and keyboards as of 2011, especially on the albums New Album and Attention Please. Takeshi plays a double-necked electric bass + guitar, allowing him to quickly switch between bass and rhythm guitar while Wata performs lead guitar utilizing tape echo and EBow. As of 2015, Atsuo has also been performing electronics. Throughout their career, Boris have made deliberate efforts to avoid a strong association with any musical style. In particular, they do not consider themselves a heavy metal band despite frequently being categorized as such. In an interview, drummer Atsuo stated: “Having some kind of preconceived message or theme is very boring to me. It becomes a crutch. Just say what you want to say.” The wide variety of genres used by reviewers to describe Boris’s music include experimental music/rock, noise music/rock, avant-garde metal, sludge metal, psychedelic rock/metal, and stoner rock/metal.

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