ABSOLUTEGO

True that Earth was first in creating the whole drone metal thing and others like Melvins and Naked City immediately followed in the wake but it was the Japanese noise worshippers BORIS who really created something special in the doom and gloom department with an amplifier feed back so fat it needs lyposuction and bass sound so deep it disturbs slimy earth worms. ABSOLUTEGO is the then quartet's debut album which originally came out on the Fangs Anal Satan label but has since been picked up by Southern Lord where it features a bonus track.

This entire album is basically one 60:15 long (65:34 on the ABSOLUTEGO+ edition) ripple through feedback and fuzz with a slow pulsating rhythmic march that sounds like a stoned Godzilla prowling the countryside looking for munchies as the feedback twists and morphs and extends to infinity and back to create quite disturbing sonicscapes that eke out all the dread and awe that this type of music was made for.

As the hypnotic rhythm marches on, the fuzz thickens and the percussion slowly evolves until around the half hour mark a cacophonous drum frenzy simulates the chaos of a falling building after a Japanese earthquake or something and then reverts back into the pacified feedback and fuzz march once again. Throughout the album the sounds are jarring and sound like the listener is under the rotating blades of a lawnmower on the verge of being ripped to shreds but never actually going there and only sustaining the impending doom to come.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart as there is no traditional song structure and is pretty much a parade through sonic torture of sort. As drone metal isn't my favorite type of metal on the scene there are some true standouts and this introduction to the Japanese noise scene combined with jarring metal sounds is one of the best out there. I recommend the edition with the bonus track "Dronevil 2" which is a mere 7:50 in length but adds a different quieter drone ending to the album that doesn't rely on fuzzy guitars and more on an undulating bass line that reverbs so low it sounds like the subwoofer is gonna explode.

Despite this release of one track that extends past the 60 minute mark, the band itself considers it a single and has been deemed as such. Personally anything over 30 minutes long is an album in my book!