Boris - Smile

Boris is one of those bands that critics love. Everything they release seems to end up on tons of year end best of lists. The Japanese band is incredibly prolific. In the dozen years since they've been releasing music, their catalog of full-lengths, splits, EPs and singles clocks in at well over two dozen.

With Boris you also never know what you're going to get musically from album to album. They are always changing, shifting and evolving. Smile is another ambitious effort, combining noise and drone with stoner metal, doom and psychedelic rock. Some songs are pretty traditional with a lot of groove and melody, others are more dissonant and experimental. This is a thick and heavy album, driven by Wata's excellent guitar work.

Usually Boris doesn't have vocals on every track, but this time around they do. Smile is by no means a mainstream album, but when it comes to Boris, it's probably one of their most accessible. It has enough melody and riffs that those not into noise and drone can enjoy it. Because their music is so challenging and experimental, they will always be underground, but discerning metal fans know exactly where to find them.

(released April 29, 2008 on Southern Lord Records)