Boris & Uniform
Bright New Disease
SACRED BONES
Three decades after originating in Tokyo, psych-noise trio Boris boast a boatful of collaborative albums, EPs, and split 7-inches that rivals their own lengthy list of releases they’ve made on their own. Recording partners run the gamut from Sunn O))) to Ian Astbury of The Cult to Torche to Boris’ most frequent collaborator, Merzbow. The latest addition to this litany of like-minded experimentalists is Uniform, which formed in New York a decade ago and have a penchant for teaming up with The Body, with whom they recorded a pair of collaborative studio albums after touring together years back (which technically resulted in a third collaborative LP).
Call it kismet that Boris and Uniform are now linking up for the first time with Bright New Disease, an idea that germinated during the bands’ joint tour shortly before the pandemic. The results aren’t what you’d expect. The full-throttle “You Are the Beginning” sets the table with chugging rhythms, the occasional wailing guitars, and interweaving screams and singing—and that’s before an outer-worldly guitar solo that might’ve even impressed Yngwie. Many, if not most, collaborative albums are either too long or exhaustively self-indulgent. But maybe because they’re so accustomed to jam sessions with other bands, Boris and Uniform cap their get-together at just over a half-hour.
Ironically for an album uniting two bands, almost half of it consists of speed-metal blitzkriegs (“Weaponized Grief,” “No,” and “Endless Death Agony”), while the other five songs are far more explorative. Incorporating electronic beats into “Narcotic Shadow,” going into the either with “A Man From the Earth,” and closing with the very loud and very slow “Not Surprised” makes Bright New Disease a gripping listen from start to finish.
Thirty years into their career, we still can’t predict what Boris will do next—hell, we might still not know the band’s full capabilities. And with their Sacred Bones labelmates Uniform stretching industrial music into hardcore-punk and sludge-metal territories, this collaborative release delivers great promise for those who still believe every imaginable song has already been written.
