In some ways, it makes sense to think of the new Church of Misery album, Thy Kingdom Scum (Rise Above/Metal Blade), as a sequel to Houses of the Unholy. Like that 2009 full-length (review here), the title is a pun with a religious theme also based on a classic album — the Japanese outfit had a song “Kingdom Scum” on their first album, Vol. 1, that finally got released in 2007 with an Emetic Records reissue in 2011 (review here) and was a take on Sir Lord Baltimore‘s 1970 debut, Kingdom Come . Both Houses of the Unholy and Thy Kingdom Scum also have seven tracks with one cover from the canon of classic heavy — on the 2009 album, it happened to be “Master Heartache” from the aforementioned Sir Lord Baltimore LP, and on Thy Kingdom Scum, it’s the bluesy “One Blind Mice,” a single from Quartermass that’s been included on reissues of their 1970 self-titled debut. Both covers are even placed the same, as the fifth of the total seven tracks — track five is also a cover on 2001′s Masters of Brutality and 2004′s The Second Coming. And of course the band’s long-running adherence to serial killer-worship and raw, Sabbath-derived heavy doom rock remains at the core of what they do. Like no one else on the planet, Church of Misery are able to make familiar riffs sound new again, and Thy Kingdom Scum continues that tradition. True to its predecessor and everything the band has done up to this point, these songs offer unhinged bombast propelled by druggy grooves that reflect the madness and psychopathy their lyrics convey. As ever, each song is about a serial killer. As ever, bassist Tatsu Mikami resides at the center of the songwriting. As ever, they are among the best in the world at what they do.

Thy Kingdom Scum shares a number of similarities on a number of levels with Church of Misery‘s last effort — which along with sundry fest appearances throughout Europe and the US and extensive touring in both territories, helped establish them as one of the heavy underground’s most potent acts — but even more pivotal to its ultimate success are the differences between the two. The methodology behind their craft is largely the same, Mikami feels no apparent need to deviate and at this point, Church of Misery have turned their obsessions into their aesthetic, but the personnel involved is different. Guitarist Ikuma Kawabe has come aboard as a first-timer, and vocalist Hideki Fukasawa returns from Houses of the Unholy, but has been in and out of the band along the way, while Mikami – appropriate enough for the bassist — is the anchor as the only remaining founding member and drummer Junji Narita marks the 13th year of his tenure. Mikami‘s songwriting is also more hammered out on Thy Kingdom Scum, and some of the elements that made cuts last time around like “Shotgun Boogie (James Oliver Huberty),” “Blood Sucking Freak (Richard Trenton Chase)” and “Born to Raise Hell (Richard Speck)” so memorable find further development and realization within “Lambs to the Slaughter (Ian Brady/Myra Hindley),” “Bother Bishop (Gary Heidnik)” and “Düsseldorf Monster (Peter Kürten),” as well as the mostly instrumental opener “B.T.K. (Dennis Rader),” which makes an immediate chorus of its riff and relies on samples to carry across vocal ideas. Not an unfamiliar tactic either for Church of Misery.

While the penchant for gruesomeness has only seemed to add to the band’s charm over the years, they’ve had to get fairly obscure in their source material. Easy enough to look up who Dannis Andrew Nilsen is (the British Jeffrey Dahmer) and what he did (killed people and ate them, duh), but I have to wonder at what point Church of Misery might just decide to go back to some of the mainstays of serial killerdom and shift their approach somewhat. They started out with the likes of John Wayne Gacy and Ed Kemper on 2001′s Master of Brutality, and to go from that to John Linley Frazier and Peter Kürten begs the question why they couldn’t just write a second song about Charles Manson. Hell, there’s an entire album’s worth of material there. Why not do a whole record about the Manson Family, or Ted Bundy? Some killers, with countless books written about them and studies done, are legends worthy of another look. I’m certainly not going to complain about the surprisingly strong hook to which “Brother Bishop (Gary Heidnik)” arrives when Fukasawa guts out the line, “We shall make a new world!” or Mikami‘s ultra-righteous Geezer Butler-ing in the same song, and I guess there’s an endless supply of killers to choose from — and at this point it seems unrealistic to ask Church of Misery to write a song about anything else –  I just wonder at the need to spread the theme so thin. Would anyone get mad if Church of Misery did another song about Aileen Wuornos?

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The Fleshland will be the fourth album overall and the Relapse Records debut from destructive Japanese bashers Coffins, who’ve filled the time since their 2008 Buried Death full-length by sharing splits with Hooded Menace, Sourvein, Stormcrow and a host of others. Relapse has pre-orders up for the album (link below) and a trailer has been unveiled containing what I assume is just a flash of the nastiness the record is sure to contain.

Says the PR wire:

COFFINS: Japanese Death/Doom Monarchs Announce Details To Debut Relapse LP

The massively anticipated fourth LP from Japan’s death/doom metal kings COFFINS will finally arrive this Summer in the form of The Fleshland, the band’s maiden LP under the banner of Relapse Records.

The Fleshland will be the first proper studio album from COFFINS since their commended Buried Death album, released by 20 Buck Spin in 2008, undoubtedly making it one of the most awaited death/doom albums of 2013. Recorded late 2012/early 2013 at Tokyo’s Noise Room Studio with engineer Shigenori Kobayashi, and produced by Bungo Uchino and the rest of COFFINS, The Fleshland shows the revamped and expanded band lineup smashing down everything in their path, having upped the lineup from a trio to a quartet with a new drummer and full-time vocalist since Buried Death. Nine grisly numbers thunder with the unbeatable mid-paced COFFINS stomp, laying down over forty-five minutes of bruising low-end sludge-infiltrated, plodding doom with possibly the best production values in the band’s meaty catalog of carnage.

Relapse will roll out The Fleshland via CD, download and mammoth 2xLP, the bloodsoaked opus now locked for a North American release date of July 9th. In addition, a deluxe black and white artwork edition on 2xLP, Cassette and CD will be made available only via Relapse direct. Today the label has released the album’s cover art — as with their previous albums, COFFINS having once again chosen the gruesome hands of Chris Moyen (Morbosidad, Black Witchery, Incantation, Blasphemy, etc.) to illustrate their works — along with a visual trailer for the album as well as preorder packages. Check it all out RIGHT HERE.

Since infiltrating the death/doom underworld in 1996, Tokyo-based COFFINS has released a mountain of material via three LPs and several EPs through labels including Razorback, Hammerheart, Imperium Productions, 20 Buck Spin and others, not to mention their arsenal of splits with bands from across the heavy spectrum including Otesanek, Spun In Darkness, Warhammer, Sourvein, Macabra, Mala Suerte and more. With a sound comparable to a bathtub drain backing up with rotting human flesh while Satan himself spins his Motörhead at half the recommended RPM’s, COFFINS releases are a detrimental purchase to all diehards of Autopsy, Hooded Menace, Pungent Stench, Corrupted and Encoffination.

Stay tuned for more info on the The Fleshland as well as 2013 live actions for COFFINS to be released in the coming weeks.

The Fleshland Track Listing:
1. Here Comes Perdition
2. Hellbringer
3. The Colossal Hole
4. No Saviour
5. The Vacant Pale Vessel
6. Rotten Disciples
7. Dishuman
8. The Unhallowed Tide
9. Tormentopia

COFFINS Crew:
Bungo Uchino – guitars/vocals
Takuya Koreeda – bass/vocals
Ryo Yamada – vocals
Satoshi Hikida – drums

Coffins, The Fleshland album trailer

Church of Misery, “Brother Bishop (Gary Heidnik)” Official Video

Dude, are you fucking kidding me? Of course I’m ending the week with new Church of Misery. This is “Brother Bishop (Gary Heidnik)” from Thy Kingdom Scum, which is out May 27 in Europe and June 11 in North America on Rise Above and Metal Blade, respectively. It rules. Seriously. I was listening to the first Funkadelic record like five minutes before I put this on and I’m pretty sure they had the same bass tone. Awesome.

Next Tuesday, I’m flying out to The Netherlands, where I’ll be staying in Tilburg to attend and cover the Roadburn festival for the fifth time. I’ve been working all week to get ready for it, and I’ll be working all weekend to do the same since I won’t be back until after Desertfest in London the weekend following Roadburn, and there’s still quite a bit to do. Not complaining in the slightest — it’ll be worth it once I land.

But as it goes with travel-times and such, there will probably be a downslope in actual posts per day while I’m out, since it’s kind of hard to keep up that sitting-in-front-of-the-laptop-all-day pace when you’re not actually doing that. Nonetheless, I’ll have travel updates, fest coverage, pics and hopefully even a little video if I get my shit together on it, so stay tuned. I know from last year that this is going to be an unbelievably exhausting but fulfilling experience, and I’m looking forward to seeing friends and meeting more great people as I have each and every year I’ve been lucky enough to get over there.

Also a bit apprehensive, since I’ve never done anything post-Roadburn except get home and crash out for, like, a month, and this year the order is reversed from what it was in 2012 and it’s Roadburn first, then Desertfest, but dammit, I’m fortunate to be going at all. I hope you’ll keep up with the adventure as it unfolds and that you enjoy it as much as I do.

While I’m spilling out hopes and dreams, I hope you have a fantastic and safe weekend. I’ll be assembling my anti-allergy meds, antacids, protein bars and other pharmacy needs (legit ones, not drugs, though maybe some trucker speed), as well as doing a boatload of laundry, working all day tomorrow, and driving up to Massachusetts on Sunday for a housing inspection on a place The Patient Mrs. and I have an offer in to buy. Monday’s gonna seem like a relief by the time it gets here, but so it goes.

Before I jump off, a quick thanks to everyone who took a listen to The Obelisk Radio this week, checked in on the forum, bought a Clamfight CD, shared a Thee Facebooks link and/or followed me on Das Twitters. There was a good amount of activity on all fronts, and I was — as I am all the time — stoked and encouraged by the support. Sincere appreciation all around.

Yeah, everybody thinks they’re the biggest Black Sabbath fan in the world, but long-running Japanese doomers Church of Misery have a pretty solid case working in their favor. Like, you know, everything they’ve ever done. Led by bassist/founder Tatsu Mikami, the Tokyo-based four-piece will issue their fifth full-length, Thy Kingdom Scum, on Rise Above in Europe and Metal Blade in North America, May 27 and June 11, respectively.

This is the first new Church of Misery release since their 2010 Live at Roadburn (review here) offering, though Emetic Records reissued Vol. 1 in 2011 (review here). A brand new teaser for Thy Kingdom Scum has just been made public, from serial killer samples to blistering Iommic riffage, everything seems to be in working order. Check it out below:

Church of Misery, Thy Kingdom Scum Teaser Trailer

In his latest column for The Obelisk, Scott “Dr. Space” Heller of Danish psych jammers Øresund Space Collective takes us through a gem of obscure Japanese psychedelic heaviness, the 1987 debut LP No More Pain, by Tokyo trio Doom. Please enjoy:

Doom, No More Pain (Explosion Records EXP-HM283Q24)

DOOM were an amazing Japanese three-piece band that made some pioneering records in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. They were led by fretless bass player Koh Moroto, who sadly passed away in 1999. No More Pain was released only in Japan and came in April 1987. I received a copy on a promo tape earlier in the year and then the real vinyl copy arrived in April. I ran my own heavy metal fanzine called Metal Madness from 1984-1988 and followed the Japanese scene closely due to a good Japanese friend.

Anyway, I was totally blown away by this record and still am today. The band had previously released a 7” also on Explosion Records in 1986. This record starts off with the very intense, “Death to Wimp!” It has a slow looping Japanese drone, drum intro as the sound gets louder and louder and faster and faster then, bang – it just hits you full-force (especially if you have it cranked up loud!). Takashi Fujita was the brilliant riff master and psychedelic guitar solo deliverer and also the vocalist. The riff is heavy metal, thrash but then Takashi plays these really intense solos like in the slow part of this opening track which then suddenly switches after the slow section into Slayer-like thrash metal. Very intense stuff.

The record production is also really excellent and powerful. “Body No Body” starts with some really intense bass before the main section takes off at a fast pace. It is really the bass and intense time changes that drive this track. The solo section takes you to some otherworldly dimension as the sound floats over the top of the clear and intense bass lines. This was clearly way ahead of its time and some of the first what I would call psychedelic experimental metal. The spacey section in this track is just so cool. They had dynamics.

“I ‘m Your Junky Doll” is probably my favourite track on this record as it has this hypnotic rhythm and just cool strangeness to it and a killer guitar riff. Wow, what a powerful number. “Cry of You No Long Life” ends side A. The riff is very influenced by the fast songs of Slayer and Metallica of this era but has a really complex rhythm, amazing bass and dynamics. Again, Takashi plays some really psychedelic shredding and crazy guitar. You have to remember these guys were a three-piece and did not have two guitars so Koh, his bass playing is so powerful, they could just drive the tracks without the rhythm guitar when Takashi was soloing.

Flip the record over and you have the title-track, “No More Pain.” It starts slowly and quiet with a solo melodic guitar line, some ideas and things you hear on the first Dark Buddha Rising LP appear (I wonder if they ever heard this record) and the bassline comes in alone and then the band takes off with a massive intensity, but only briefly before a super-cool beautiful guitar section and an almost whispered vocal is mixed to a quite psychedelic effect.

Again, amazing dynamics. And the midsection is totally psyched-out with crazy guitar and voice and other effects, getting really intense before the beautiful parts return and repeat several times. “Iron Card” is a fast one with more cool bass and the band is tuned in a different way on this track, giving it a different sound. It is a bit like Motörhead almost at times. “Kick it Out” has a heavy riff and changing rhythm like Metallica, but they do it in their own way, and “Til Death” is a super-fast thrash number. Takashi returns with that really cool psychedelic guitar soloing sound that just lifts the solo out of the sound somehow.

This might not be for everyone but it was the first metal that I heard that I considered psychedelic. Two years ago, Victor in Japan rereleased four of the band’s CDs from the Killing Fields EP (1988) to Human Noise (1991). This record has still never been re-released. The CD is available in Japan with the first EP on it as well.

Captured on Church of Misery‘s first-ever US tour in their 17-year history, the footage below of Japan’s most lethal doomers comes from June 2 at the Scion Rock Fest in Tampa, Florida. The band, who’d already set a serial pace across Europe in the spring, hitting both Desertfest London and Roadburn, slammed into the States for a successful run, thrilling longtime fans who’d never gotten the chance to experience the band’s Sabbathian loyalism live and single-handedly raising the nation’s t-shirt GDP by no less than 30 percent.

The song “El Padrino” was the leadoff track on Church of Misery‘s last album, 2009′s Houses of the Unholy, and like the vast majority of their material (the portion that’s not dedicated to covers of heavy ’70s legends and/or Saint Vitus), it’s about a serial killer. That’s what they do. This time, it’s Adolfo Constanzo, a Cuban-American drug dealer, cult leader and mass murderer in Mexico City in the 1980s. It’s kind of like the guy was doing Church of Misery a solid just by existing.

Anyway, they put his story to good use, as you can see in the footage of “El Padrino” below:

Church of Misery, “El Padrino” at Scion Rock Fest 2012

At the fest, founding bassist Tatsu Mikami and Australian guitarist Tom Sutton — who joined in 2006 and was replaced in the band’s always tumultuous lineup by Ikuma Kawabe (ex-Dhidalah) following the US tour — sat down for an interview and discussed their roots, the nonexistent doom scene in Japan and how it’s kept them original, and much more.

Dig it:

Church of Misery, Interview at Scion Rock Fest 2012

Special thanks to Scion A/V Metal for allowing me to premiere this footage. Stay tuned for more to come.

Side-stepping his role as bassist for Church of Misery, Tatsu Mikami put together Sonic Flower as a heavy blues rock side-project. Their lone EP, Sonic Flower, was released in 2003 on Japan’s Leaf Hound Records, and now that the label has been defunct under what were at the time somewhat mysterious circumstances, Sonic Flower has become a kind of fascinating asterisk in the Church of Misery canon. Enter Michigan imprint Emetic Records, who’s already backed reissues of Church of Misery’s Early Works Compilation (also originally a Leaf Hound release) and previously-unreleased Vol. 1 outing (review here), and Sonic Flower now finds release as a limited-to-500 hand-numbered CD and an already-sold-out limited-to-300 marble vinyl. The artwork matches the original, and there isn’t any bonus material included (I don’t think there was anything to include), so Emetic’s Sonic Flower is basically a chance for anyone who didn’t manage to pick up the original while Leaf Hound was operational to do so now. The six tracks of the EP total 25 minutes and are entirely instrumental, steeped in hard-jammed ‘70s blues, Cactus being a particular reference point for a song like “Astroqueen” or the off-the-rails opener “Cosmic Highway.”

Production-wise, Sonic Flower’s Sonic Flower has plenty in common with what Church of Misery were doing at that time, which is expected. Joining Tatsu in the band were guitarists Takenori Hoshi (ex-Church of Misery) and Arisa, and drummer Keisuke Fukawa (now ex-G.A.T.E.S.), who’d later be replaced by Church of Misery’s Junji “J.J.” Narita. In 2003, Church of Misery released their split with British stoner heavyweights Acrimony, and the following year saw their ultra-blown-out The Second Coming released, so Sonic Flower’s overall sound is right at home between the two. Keisuke’s cymbals are nowhere near as prominent in the mix as were Junji’s on The Second Coming, and the lack of vocals gives the guitars space to breathe and fill the void with harmonic interplay and soloing. The songs are built around and follow the riffs exclusively, with Tatsu adding funky flourishes in fills between cycles of “Black Sunshine” before the song moves into and out of spacey freakouts and revives its bluesy stomp. It’s a solid 25-plus minutes of grooving, and Sonic Flower didn’t seem to have anything more in mind than that; the unabashed stoner rockness of it being half the appeal. Church of Misery’s singularity of focus on serial killers is absent here, but many of the same musical influences persist – Tatsu being principle songwriter, it stands to reason – and even the closing Don Nix cover “Going Down” is inflected with heady distortion and well-fitting rhythmic heft.

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Originally recorded in 1996 and long bootlegged before its official vinyl release in 2007 on Japan’s now-disappeared Leaf Hound Records, it’s not until some 15 years later that Church of Misery’s first album, Vol. 1, is seeing a legitimate CD release. Michigan imprint Emetic Records – who also reissued Church of Misery’s Early Works Compilation last year (another out of print Leaf Hound title) – has both CD and vinyl versions of the album, both with bonus tracks, and the Sabbath worship may have never been so complete. From the direct take on Black Sabbath’s Vol. 4 artwork, to the title, to the sampled storm that starts the album to the simplistic riff-based glory contained within the subsequent tracks, Church of Misery are missionaries spreading a message, giving praise in one of the most direct and vital ways: With groove.

The only remaining member (the only founding member left) from the Vol. 1 lineup of the band is Tatsu Mikami, whose wah-bass features heavily almost immediately with a solo on “Cloud Bed.” His Geezer Butler fills are to be expected, but like a lot of what Church of Misery has done musically over the course of their career, is no less glorious for hitting its marks. The serial killer obsession that’s come out in the vast majority of their lyrics is nascent on Vol. 1, vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda handling most of the words with help from guitarist Tomohiro Nishimura, whose riffs – it should go without saying – are pure Iommic bastardization, and I mean that in the best way. The simple truth is that no one has ever quite captured the swing of mid-paced Black Sabbath as well as Church of Misery, and even as they close out Vol. 1 with a cover of Gun’s “Race with the Devil,” their treatment of it sounds like Trouble doing one of the tunes off Masters of Reality. Obviously, that’s a good thing. They’ve always been a “what you see is what you get” kind of band, an ethic they seem to share with British outfit Orange Goblin, who got started around the same time, but their simplicity is a huge part of their appeal. “Kingdom Scum” wouldn’t work if it wanted to do more than rock. The way “Celebrate Pigs” invokes “Snowblind” would fall flat if it was trying to be more than it is. Church of Misery requires prior induction, and as Vol. 1 shows, that’s apparently been the case right from the start.

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Good news for anyone who hates paying eBay prices for their doom: Michigan imprint Emetic Records will reissue Church of Misery‘s Volume 1 next month. Emetic released the band’s Early Works Compilation (originally out on the defunct Leaf Hound label) last year as well, and in case you missed it, it’s awesome and you should get it.

Emetic sent word along via the PR wire:

March 8 will see the official rerelease of Church of Misery‘s unreleased debut full-length Volume 1 via Emetic Records. This will be the first time this has been officially released on CD. A vinyl version will be released towards the end of March. This release has been remastered (Souichirou Nakamura at Peace Music) and sounds amazing compared to the original release. Originally recorded in 1996, this is the oldest Church of Misery recordings.

Volume 1 track listing:
1. Cloud Bed
2. Nutz
3. Kingdom Scum
4. Frog’s Funeral
5. Cerebrate Pigs
6. Chilly Grave
7. Race with the Devil
8. Race with the Devil (Single Version)
9. Chilly Grave (Single Version)

Church Of Misery Will be playing the following festival dates with more to added soon.
Hellfest – France June 17
Tuska Open Air – Finland July 22-24

If I posted news about it every time Boris had a release, I’d have to change the name of this website. The Oborisk or something like that. Oboriselisk. I don’t know. Point is, Boris put out records in like two-month intervals, but January marks the issue of their first-ever live DVD, appropriately-dubbed Live in Japan. The PR wire has the info:

Japanese rock experimentalists Boris are well-known not only for their epic discography — they’ve unleashed multiple releases to the public every year in countless formats since their formation in the early ’90s — but also for the captivating live performances they’re constantly booking, playing live throughout every habitable continent on the planet over the past decade and a half. The next official release from the band will bring fans a bit of both worlds, in the form of the band’s first official domestic live DVD from the band!

Set for release via Southern Lord on Jan. 18, 2011, the Live in Japan DVD captures the intriguing power, majesty and unique psychedelia that only Boris can deliver, and will bring the band’s incredible stage act to fans who have never witnessed the band live, as well as diehards who venture out to see the act every chance they get. The footage on this official DVD release was filmed in Tokyo at the final show of the band’s 2008 Smile world tour. Featuring a full set of 11 Boris originals filmed at Daikanyama Unit, as well as three bonus videos from a set at the Shibuya Club Quattro, this DVD is quite special since Boris actually play on other continents much more often than in their home country!

Boris Live in Japan DVD track listing:
1. Flower Sun Rain
2. Buzz-In
3. Laser Beam
4. Pink
5. Statement
6. Floor Shaker
7. Rainbow
8. My Neighbor Satan
9. Ka Re Ha Te Ta Sa Ki – No One’s Grieve
10. You Were Holding An Umbrella
11. ”     ”

Bonus tracks from Shibuya Club Quattro:
12. Tokyo Wonder Land
13. A Bao A Qu
14. Farewell

aOT9

This is the mother of them all. Short of doing three songs in as many hours, which I could have done just as or even more easily, I don’t see how any audiObelisk Transmission could get heavier than this one. It’s just a little bit of an excuse on my part to have an easily accessible copy of Dopesmoker at all times, but with new music as well from Hypnos 69, a classic dirge from Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine and one of Boris‘ most avant garde moments, Transmission Zero Zero Nine is an absolute monster. I hope you dig it.

No need to hide the tracklist after a jump since it’s only four songs. Click the banner at the top of this post to get the file, or stream it on the player above. Here’s what we’ve got:

0:00:08 Sleep, “Dopesmoker” from Dopesmoker (Tee Pee, 2003)
There was no way I was going to make this podcast and not include this song. It’s the riff that launched a thousand clone bands, and Sleep‘s shining hour. Literally, an hour. Plenty of time to worship.

1:03:42 Hypnos 69, “The Great Work” from Legacy (Elektrohasch, 2010)
New music from these Belgian classic proggers. It’s the last cut on their new album, Legacy, and maybe their most aptly-titled song ever. Their sense of melody is second to none and the progressive elements in their approach have never shined brighter than they do here.

1:21:53 Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, “He Who Accepts all That is Offered (Feel Bad Hit of the Winter)” from Rampton (Southern Lord, 2002)
The lineup of Lee Dorrian (Cathedral), Stephen O’Malley (SunnO)))/Khanate), Justin Greaves (Iron Monkey/now-Crippled Black Phoenix) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake) only put out one album under this cumbersome moniker, taken from a song title on Earth‘s Earth 2. It’s a good thing. I don’t think the universe could handle a second without ripping in half.

1:51:35 Boris, “Flood” from Flood (MIDI Creative, 2000)
Is that guitar forward or backwards? Both? I doubt anyone really knows what Boris are getting up to for the entirety of this song, Boris included. I remember interviewing drummer Atsuo Mizuno a couple years back and he looked at me like my head was on backwards when I asked about it. See if you can figure it out.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 009 here.

You could probably throw darts at oddball combinations of rock bands for six years before you came up with Japanese experimentalists Boris and lead singer Ian Astbury of The Cult, so wouldn’t you know that would have to be the one that actually happened. It’s strange on paper and kind of strange in the hearing, but taking it from the perspective of Boris, who’ve done more collaborations and experimental pieces than I care or am able to count in their 18 years together, it’s just one more wacky thing to add to the list. In your best sitcom-mom voice: “Oh, that Boris. What will they get up to next?”

What they get up to with BXI (Boris x Ian, get it?) is some rock of varied tempo and approach; the EP is a self-titled sampling of what the two distinct personalities have to offer when combined. Four tracks in 20 minutes, it’s a short release, but Boris and Astbury, though it’s certainly an unexpected grouping, doesn’t really sound awkward — and if that seems like a contradiction to the last paragraph where I said it’s strange, you’re unfamiliar with Boris. For a band who so consistently strives to put themselves out of their element, doing something like making a record with Ian Astbury is no crazier than many of the other moves they’ve made. If you’re a Cult fan, that’s just a bonus.

The EP BXI (unsurprisingly released through Southern Lord) starts with “Teeth and Claws,” and right away we understand the idea is to meld a more atmospheric side of Boris’ riffy approach to Astbury’s gruff, classic rock vocalizing. His voice adds an almost Meat Loaf-style teen melodrama to the track, and of course it wouldn’t be Boris if that wasn’t completely turned in its head with the next song. “We are Witches” is driven most by its riff, and there’s a killer solo from either Wata or Takeshi Ohtani, but the bass, the drums of Atsuo Mizuno and Wata’s backing vocals (one could hardly hold being overpowered by Astbury against her) do just as much as any other element to make the song the highlight of the EP. With its oft-repeated title line, the song balances catchy and straightforward with unique and experimental in a way that best encapsulates BXI. If you’re going to sample a song before you decide whether or not to make a purchase, let it be “We are Witches.”

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For the life of me, I don’t know how Boris manages to stay so prolific. For example, within the next two weeks, the core unit of the band will be playing shows not only as themselves (concluding a US/Canada tour), but also as collaborative outfits with the likes of SunnO))) and Ian Astbury of The Cult. We should all be blessed with such a work ethic. I can barely take out the garbage without feeling like the world owes me an ice cream sandwich.

The PR wire has the specifics as to how Boris continues to make us all look bad:

As Boris wrap up their latest month-long North American tour with two California shows this week, they’re also prepare to join forces with several allies for their upcoming live work with Altar and BXI performances scheduled in New York.

First up, Altar (comprised of SunnO))) and Boris as one group) will perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in Monticello, New York alongside Sleep, Iggy & The Stooges, Sonic Youth and countless more in a massive outdoor space. Two days later Altar will make another appearance, this time alongside the first official performance of BXI (Boris and Ian Astbury of The Cult), which will all go down at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple, which has been unarguably dubbed “the loudest room in NYC,” and presented by All Tomorrow’s Parties and The Blackened Music Series.

The debut release from BXI is a four-song self-titled EP, which was released by Southern Lord on Aug. 17. The EP is quickly surprising fans of both The Cult and Boris, as well as journalists across the globe, and has listeners taking this new collaboration quite seriously, making this official first concert together an exceptionally special performance for the unit.

Live Performances:
Boris
8/26/2010 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA w/ Red Sparowes, Helms Alee
8/27/2010 El Rey – Los Angeles, CA w/ Red Sparowes, Helms Alee
8/28/2010 The Glass House – Pomona, CA w/ Red Sparowes, Helms Alee
Altar
9/05/2010 ATP Fest – Monticello, NY w/ Sleep, The Stooges, Sonic Youth, more
Altar and BXI
9/07/2010 Brooklyn Masonic Temple – Brooklyn, NY w/ Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

Church of Misery covering Saint Vitus. If it gets more doom than that — no, wait, it can’t possibly get more doom than that, so I’m not going to entertain the hypothesis. This comes off the Born too Late split with Sheavy. Good stuff.

I’m running late, so I’m going to keep this short. As soon as this is posted I’m going to head out the door and jump on 95 to get down to Manhattan to catch the Melvins, Isis and Totimoshi at Webster Hall. If you’re going I’ll see you there. Don’t buy me a drink because when the show is over I have to drive back up to Connecticut.

Stick around for next week. We’ll finish up the Top Five of the First Half of 2010 and have an interview with Tony Reed of Stone Axe, plenty of other goodies as well. Whatever you’re up to this weekend, hope it’s a blast. Stay safe and we’ll see you back here on Monday.

Sometimes, my friends, the world is a very strange place. For example: of all the combinations that could happen, would you ever put Japanese rock monsters Boris with Ian Astbury of The Cult/The Doors? I most certainly would not, thus denying myself the right to claim I came up with BXI. It may not make any sense, but I’m willing to wager it kicks at least a little ass, and if there’s a chance of seeing Boris do an interpretation of The Doors‘ “The End” live, I’ll be honest, I could care less who else is around.

The PR wire has this:

Southern Lord proudly announces an incredible collaboration between label artists Boris and Ian Astbury of The Cult and The Doors! This finely-crafted four-song mini release, simply entitled BXI, was tracked and mixed in Tokyo in late April. Astbury‘s vocals are a perfect match for Boris‘s straightforward, laid-back, but still raw and imaginative songwriting constructed for the EP; another intriguing display within the band’s ever-morphing, extensive résumé of releases, tours and collaborations.

To see official CD, LP and digital release this September via Southern Lord, BXI will showcase the already unclassifiable rock of Boris in an entirely new light, and shows a new side one of rock and roll’s most notorious singers. The release features three new original tracks, as well as a cover of The Cult‘s song “Rain”, ethereally vocalized by Boris guitarist Wata. Art and design for the release was commissioned to Stephen O’Malley (Ideologic.org, SunnO))), etc.).

This past weekend, Ian Astbury made an unannounced appearance with Boris at the band’s performance at Sydney, Australia‘s Vivid Live appearance, blowing fans away with this unexpected set which showcased some of the material from the BXI EP as well as a cover of the classic “The End” by The Doors.

BXI EP track listing:
1. Teeth and Claws
2. We are the Witches
3. Rain
4. Magickal Child