''No'' (presented as ''NO'' in conjunction with its follow-up album '' W'') is the twenty-sixth studio album by Japanese

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

band Boris, released 3 July 2020 on the band's label Fangs Anal Satan.

Background

''No'' was written and recorded quickly in March 2020 when Boris entered self-isolation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Inspired by current international political trends, Boris described the album as "a mirror that gathers and reflects people’s negative energy at a different angle, one that is positive. That is the power and potential of the dark, extreme, and brutal noise music that we have experienced up to this point." Unlike the lengthy experimental tracks that dominated the band's last few albums, ''No'' consists mostly of short,

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

-based songs. It includes the cover song "Fundamental Error" by 1990s Japanese hardcore band Gudon. Japanese hardcore guitarist Katsumi makes a guest appearance. The album was self-released.

Composition

With ''NO'', Boris craft "thrashing and exhilarating"

. It is also seen as a "harsh", "violent" fusion of

crust punk Crust punk (also known as crust or stenchcore) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on politic ...

and

metallic hardcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use o ...

D-beat D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust, and crust-beat) is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D-be ...

sludge Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. For example, it can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventiona ...

and

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

also appear, all wrapped in "thick squalling"

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''No'' received mostly positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 84, which indicates "generally positive reviews", based on 6 reviews. ''

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

'' noted the album's differences from its immediate predecessors, which could turn off longtime fans although the album "plays to enough of Boris’ many strengths that longstanding fans will be quick to pounce on it." ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' called ''No'' the best Boris album in a decade, squeezing the band's many interests into "these breathless 40 minutes." ''Treble'' magazine noted that the album "cuts right through the feedback and drone in the interest of a more direct delivery of thrashy riffs and crust-punk intensity." ''Post-Thrash'' noted that the album is likely to satisfy both longtime Boris fans, plus fans of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

and heavy metal. A reviewer for ''

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technolog ...

'' noted that Boris is still capable of delivering surprising new sounds like those on ''No'', after more than two dozen albums. In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Thom Jurek claimed that "While hardly a political album, ''No'' reflects the frustration, anger, fear, and helplessness of the 2020 pandemic in a global zeitgeist. While its stylistic hallmarks are undeniably part of the band's musical signature, here they pay homage to the past while simultaneously reflecting the tense uncertainty of the present and future, directly and consistently, making ''No'' the band's strongest, most visionary outing since ''

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

''."

Track listing

Personnel

*Takeshi – bass, guitar, vocals *Wata – guitar, vocals, effects, echo *Atsuo – drums, vocals

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Boris (band) albums