One of the most hotly anticipated albums in the history of Southern Lord, Metal, Modern Psych-Rock, Doom and whatever genre you want to lump this Japanese three-piece in with. (And they've done it all, from the folkish drone stylings of "Flood" to the SUNN O))) style doom-riffs of "AbsoluteEgo" to the bludgeoning assault of the Merzbow collaboration "Rock Dreams" to the unexpected straight up classic rock jamz on "Heavy Rocks") And guess what? It lives up to the hype, in fact exceeds it by a fair amount just for its sheer determined no-hold-barred uninhibited rocking POWER of the playing alone. Of note to the converts and existing fans; the Japanese version of "Smile" not only has a different track arrangement, but is recorded, played and composed with a notably other mix and instrumentation... and a superior one to these ears! Its as if, to just have the sheer joy or remaking the album, they constructed the Southern Lord release as a more Psych-Rock based variation on the theme. Curious. I've read nothing in interview explaining this dualism... but back to the domestic release:

Again, with "Smile" we see Boris expanded to a quartet, bringing in the legendary guitarist Michio Kurihara of Ghost to the fold. Which is probably why last year's "Rainbow" was such an outstanding release in Boris' career: with an additional guitarist on board the trio could finally realise the massive blasting fuzzed-out Psych-Rock that had previously eluded them slightly, even on records like the widely acclaimed "Pink". In summarizing this record, well its hard to not be hyperbolic: This is the definitive statement of what can be done with a drum-kit, two guitars and a bass in the way of dynamic, superpowered rock blasting, all pulled off with bewildering precise head-of-a-pin rhythm and power shifts. Truly stunning. That no one else in the world is rocking this fusion of the heaviest elements of Psychedelic Rock, Power Trio and Doom Metal is almost confounding, which makes Boris just that much more an enigma. If ever your belief in the true power of rock n' roll has wavered, well, this album has the potential to bring back the faith. As a friend recently said of their live show: "Remember that scene in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' when they opened up the Ark of the Covenant and all the true-believer's faces melted off?" "...Well, that's what happened to the audience at Boris... except in his case they were into it!!". And I can think of no better a metaphor to sum up the experience of cranking up (and I do mean cranking up as in Loud, LOud, LOUd, LOUD) "Smile" on a real hi-fi. Face Melting good times!