Boris - Heavy Rocks (2002)Release ID: 499

Boris - Heavy Rocks (2002) Cover
Daniel Daniel / September 27, 2022 / Comments 0 / 0

Tokyo’s Boris are an interesting artist in a creative sense as they’ve never felt confined to any one sound or scene &, as a result, people really struggle to pigeon-hole them under an easily understood subgenre tag. I’m not sure whether that’s been an advantage or a hindrance for them over the years in all honesty as they seem to have developed a huge cult following & always seem to draw positive acclaim from critics but have probably never managed to truly break into the sort of fanatical support that they so clearly deserve. Us metalheads seem to want to make sure they stay tightly wrapped within the banner of the underground metal scene however they’ve never really sat all that comfortably there & Boris' seminal 2002 fourth full-length album “Heavy Rocks” is a prime example of that.

The first three Boris albums were heavily directed towards a drone inspired sound & saw the band really building a niche for themselves through highly regarded records like 1998’s “Amplifier Worship” & 2000’s “Flood” but with “Heavy Rocks” we see Boris moving into new territory with a fresh sound that’s much more focused on traditional rock music than their previous records were. In doing so though, Boris lost none of their street appeal as they very quickly proved themselves to have a deep understanding of what it is that makes heavy rock music so exciting. There’s a danger in these sounds that we find so rarely in modern rock music & it takes me back to a time when rock represented an exciting escape for me as a youngster with the experience of the live performance taking on an almost transcendent stature in an artist’s creative image. You see, as with most of Boris’ lengthy back catalogue, “Heavy Rocks” really does sound like a recording of a live band with very few of the rough edges having been buffed out. You can feel the amplifier’s buzzing & almost see the kids leaping from the stage & thrashing themselves about in glee & that’s what makes a band like Boris so appealing.

Musically speaking, I have to admit that “Heavy Rocks” doesn’t sit as close to my musical comfort zone as Boris’ drone metal works though. Most people seem to want to lump it in with Stoner Metal which isn’t entirely accurate. There’s far too much of a late 60's blues rock influence in this material for it to sit primarily in the metal space. In fact, I really struggle to see why "Heavy Rocks is not unanimously tagged as Stoner Rock because it fits the description of that genre to a tee in my opinion. The loose vocal delivery is miles away from anything a metal front man might attempt while the overall feel of the instrumentation generally possesses a much noisier & bluesier outlook too. The psychedelic guitar excursions are brilliantly executed & are a real highlight for me personally, particularly album high point “Soft Edge” which is nothing short of spectacular (&, as is so often the case with me, is also the least popular track on the album). Boris simply seem to “get it” if you know what I mean & the fact that front man Takeshi doesn’t even try to stay in tune is completely overlooked in the interest of the elusive quest for heavy rock supremacy. There’s a deep-seated authenticity to this material that makes it inherently relatable but gives it some added x-factor as well. To put it bluntly, it's simply a way cooler record than the vast majority of the competition could ever hope to muster up.

In saying that, I do think that “Heavy Rocks” is a fairly top-heavy release. Despite not possessing anything that comes close to being a weak track, I have to admit that all of the best material sits on the A side with the flip side seeming to be a little bit lacking in comparison. Perhaps it’s simply a matter of taste as I would suggest that I was always going to be more drawn to the crushingly heavy stoner metal of opener “Heavy Friends”, the stripped-back psychedelia of “Soft Edge” & the more aggressive & dangerous rock outings like “Korosu” & “Dyna-Soar”. Boris would perhaps execute this stoner rock sound with slightly more consistency on 2003’s “Akuma no uta” album too but one can’t be too critical of a rock record with this level of potency. It’s all too rare that you encounter music that encapsulates what it means to be “rock” in such a clear & concise fashion these days so “Heavy Rocks” should be celebrated for what it represents as much as what it’s achieved.

For fans of Melvins, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard & Church of Misery.

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Release info

Release Site Rating

Ratings: 4 | Reviews: 1

3.5

Release Clan Rating

Ratings: 4 | Reviews: 1

3.5

Cover Site Rating

Ratings: 2

3.3

Cover Clan Rating

Ratings: 2

3.3
Band
Release
Heavy Rocks
Year
2002
Format
Album
Clans
The Fallen
Sub-Genres

Sludge Metal (conventional)

Voted For: 0 | Against: 1

Stoner Metal (conventional)

Voted For: 0 | Against: 1

Boris chronology

Absolutego (1996)
Black: Implication Flooding (1998)
Amplifier Worship (1998)
flood (2000)
Megatone (2002)
Heavy Rocks (2002)
Akuma no Uta (2003)
Boris at Last -Feedbacker- (2003)
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked (2004)
04092001 (2005)
Sound Track From Film "Mabuta no ura" (2005)
Sun Baked Snow Cave (2005)
Archive Volume One - Live 96-98 (2005)
Archive Volume Two - Drumless Shows (2005)
Archive Volume Three - 2 Long Songs (2005)
Dronevil (2005)
Pink (2005)
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2 (2006)
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 3 (2006)
Vein (2006)
Rainbow (2006)
Walrus / Groon (2007)
Rock Dream (2007)
Smile (2008)
Smile (2008)
Cloud Chamber (2008)
Smile (2008)
Scion A/V Remix: Buzz In (2009)
Smile: Live in Prague 2008 (2009)
Variations (2010)
Black Original Remix (2011)
Klatter (2011)
New Album (2011)
Attention Please (2011)
Heavy Rocks (2011)
Cosmos (2012)
Performing "flood" (2013)
Präparat (2013)
Archive I (2014)
Archive II (2014)
Noise (2014)
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked Extra (2014)
Urban Dance (2015)
Warpath (2015)
Asia (2015)
Crossing Waltz (2016)
Gensho (2016)
Mr. Shortkill (2016)
Live at Third Man Records (2017)
Dear (2017)
Secrets (2018)
-You Laughed Like a Water Mark- (2018)
eternity (2018)
1985 (2019)
Tears E.P. (2019)
LfVE & EVfL (2019)
Volume Zero "Early Demo" (2020)
Vein (2020)
Volume Five "Pink Days" (2020)
Volume Four "Evil Stack Live" (2020)
2R0I2P0 (2020)
Refrain (2020)
No (2020)
マブタノウラ (Sound Track From Film "Mabuta no ura") (2021)
Absolutego Studio Session 2018 (2021)
Bootleg -Feedbacker- (2021)
"Hope" Japan Tour 2011 (2021)
New Album 2009 (2021)
Kanau Re-master + Live (2021)
Documentary of "Akuma no Uta" (2021)
Live! Amplifier Worship (2021)
No World Tour "In Your Head" 2021 (2021)
Tokyo Wonder Land (2021)
Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Live -25th Anniversary Show- (2021)
Cosmos Re-master + Live (2021)
Dear Extra (2021)
fade (2022)
W (2022)
Heavy Rocks (2022)
ア バオ ア ク -Boris Performing Fade- (2024)