Boris

Metal trio Boris went virtually unnoticed outside its native Japan until Southern Lord issued Pink stateside in 2006. For better or worse, that record had a seismic effect on the American rock underground, presenting metal to freshly opened ears; unfortunately, all those fresh faces at the headbangers ball bred their own snobbery, midwifing the dismissive sobriquet “hipster metal.” But it’s not like any of that static reached Boris: The band continued working on its own terms, collaborating with experimentally minded countrymen (guitarist Michio Kurihara, noise icon Merzbow), adding vocals to its increasingly cluttered, chaotic mix on 2008’s Smile, and releasing a 10-inch split with American metalheads Torche in 2010. Recently, the band went on a releasing spree, having dropped three full-length albums in 2011 alone: New Album, Heavy Rocks, and Attention Please.

Updated 10/18/2011