Release Date: June 16th 2023. Record Label: Sacred Bones. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Bright New Disease: Tracklisting
You Are The Beginning
Weaponized Grief
No
The Look Is A Flame
The Sinners Of Hell (Jigoku)
Narcotic Shadow
A Man From The Earth
Endless Death Agony
Not Surprised
Review
Bright New Disease is the new collaborative new album between Japanese legendary Rock/Metal collective Boris and American Industria Metallers/Noise Rockers Uniform. I'm a fan of both bands and you can hear what each band brought to this album after hearing from the first time. Boris bring their classic style of Experimental Drone/Doom/Sludge grooves to this album with Uniform playing their demented and hybrid style of Doom/Industrial Metal/Punk/Noise Metal sounds.
Both bands receive the perfect opportunity to play some of their most violently addictive and ugly sounds throughout the album. The songs offered on here move from all areas of the Doom/Industrial/Sludge Metal spectrum with heavy amounts of Distorted glitches and nightmarish Psychedelic freakout beats. However, there's a sense of DEMENTED fun to be had with this album and allows both bands the opportunity to play a more riff-centric style of music.
The songs all have a schizophrenic edge and Boris seem to be channelling their NO and Heavy Rocks (2022) creative persona for this album with Uniform just doing what Uniform do brilliantly well. The album does move at a frantic and chaotic pace that some of the finest ideas can be lost when listening for the first time. As they're a lot of different styles to take on. Both bands work amazingly well together on this record and both offer the same creative respect to each other when playing some of the heaviest and bleakest parts of the album.
Standout tracks include: You Are The Beginning, Weaponized Grief, The Look Is A Flame, The Sinners Of Hell (Jigoku), Endless Death Agony and Not Surprised.
These tracks I found the most engaging to fully listen to multiple times. The lyrics and vocals hit upon some pretty bleak moments with the experimental nature of the album still keeping the mood wonderfully surreal, emotionally involving and brutally honest. The album offers a wide range of different grooves and droned out textures which allows the Industrial beats from Uniform to be on the strongest aspects of the album. However, Boris's role shouldn't be misunderstood either. As they bring their "A" game to Bright New Disease for one of the most satisfying and original collaborative albums I've heard in a very long time.
If you're a fan of both bands then Bright New Disease is going to be one of your favourite albums of the year.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Rarely Unable PR for the promo.
Bright New Disease will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Sacred Bones from Friday 16th June 2023.
BORIS Links
Official | Facebook | BandCamp
Uniform Links
