Boris Sludgehammers The Gothic
November 19, 2025Photography: Béla Kershisnik
Music can be appreciated like cinema, and Boris is one of the groups who takes this perspective and leans into it. Boris was formed in 1992 in Tokyo. They have released a large body of work, with 27 studio albums and 14 EPs, and they have a dedicated cult following through their one-of-a-kind sound and performance. They have elements of stoner metal, noise rock, classic metal, and post-rock. However, they deliberately have an ever-changing sound, and don’t wish to be associated with any one genre.
Their performance reflected this ethos of refusing to be labeled. Their performance spanned a plethora of genres, and resembled a story with rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. They performed several story-like songs which had their own unique plot, and contrasted this with shorter high-energy tracks, which served as a palette cleanser. They covered just about every heavy genre under the sun in this one performance. The Gothic Theatre served as an appropriate venue for this, with its classically theatrical architecture and layout.
I was notified that we got the photo pass to cover them at the ass-end of my workday. I picked up food from one of my go-to spots on the way home, ate it in my car as quickly as I could, and battled traffic for 45 minutes to get home. I crammed in a 30 minute nap, drank instant coffee in an almost-instant shower, and booked it to the Gothic just in time to catch the last few songs of the opening act.
The opening band was a shoegaze act called Cloakroom. I regret not getting there sooner, as I’m a big fan of shoegaze, and they crafted a dense, dream-like atmosphere. Their tracks also flowed cinematically, taking a queue from post-rock. They closed their set with hard-hitting chunky riffs and atmosphere so dense that you could drown in it.
I perused the crowd to kill time between acts, and to hopefully secure a decent spot to stand. I was out of luck in finding some real estate, as the venue was either sold-out, or damn near it. The concert-goers I met consisted of Colorado dudes with beards, stoner-metalheads, and the occasional goth or punk in the mix. I went up to the bar on the balcony for a soda water with lime, and in hopes of finding a spot. I was successful with both. I found a seat at the table against the railing with a great view of the stage. I sipped my $5 carbonated water with a single wedge of lime, and chatted with my balcony neighbors.
The lights dimmed to black, with the only illumination being those ominous red lights that subtly shine against the ceiling of the theater. Blue spotlights pointed at the stage as the three members of the band entered. An eerie horror-esque ambience droned on as one of the guitarists played messy noise and the drummer hit the ever-conspicuous gong.
The guitarist playing the noise, Wata, played a standard guitar tuned down. The other guitarist, Takeshi, was actually a guitar-bassist, as they wielded a double-necked guitar/bass combo. Atsuo was the one who had been slamming the gong that stood like a statue behind his drumkit.
As the first song transitioned from chaos to order, it became what I would say is a doom metal track. The guitars sounded about 17 octaves below standard tuning, and the drums were pounded with a slow, Black Sabbath influenced groove. After some time, the guitar-bassist let out some haunting screams and death growls. This was followed by a faster and more melodic track with power metal and thrash influences. They played a couple of more energetic tracks, following with two bluesy, classic heavy metal songs. The drummer sang on one of these, and another track had the guitar-bassist switch over to the guitar leg of his instrument, which ended in a flurry of noise and effected guitars against a backdrop of flashing lights.
Track number five was very noisy and rocking, reminding me of Melvins and Nirvana. This track was drenched in feedback and reverb. Track six was Queens of the Stone Age-esque, with heavy groovy riffs and a hypnotizing percussion section. Track seven brought the doom metal back with a vengeance, with slow chugging, high melodic reverberated vocals, and ultra low bass rumbling. The drummer did swells on the gong as the noise gradually changed in pitch. There were shoegaze guitar leads, and crunchy rhythm guitar that resembled Tool, fluttering with delay. This culminated in spacey guitar solos, gong hits, and flashing strobes. The 8th track was a classic heavy metal song, with the mosh pit really going now, due to the high energy in contrast from the foreboding vibe of the previous epic. Track nine had a heavy alt-rock blues riff and groove. The vocals reminded me of Death From Above 1979.This ended in a mystical wall of noise with a phaser effect that made it feel like the room was spinning. The 10th track was in a major key, and strongly had post-rock vibes. It sounded like something Mogwai would make if they tuned down a thousand octaves and added soaring vocals. Track 11 was an encore, and their final track. They had disappeared for a while, and were cheered back onstage with enthusiasm. This track was their slowest to build, but had the most payoff. It was truly a sludge-metal epic, lasting about 20 minutes. There were peaks, valleys, ebbs, and flows that made this track truly like a story.
Once the story concluded, the lights came back on and people filtered out of the venue. Being someone who had never heard of Boris, I came to learn why they are so renowned and respected. While it is difficult to be propelled into ultra-stardom with the approach of constant change, it shows true artistic integrity, as you know that the artist is pursuing what they want to do. Boris will retain their cult following because of how genuine and dynamic they are.
