Bossk are a British

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal music, heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis (band), Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture (music), te ...

band formed in

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the Borough of Ashford, Ashford district, in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about by road southeast of centr ...

in 2005.

History

Bossk are named after a minor alien character in ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

''. Following their 2006 debut release, ''.1'', on the QnotQ label, they toured extensively with a number of bands, including

Cult of Luna Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band from Umeå founded in 1998. Their style of music is similar to contemporary bands Neurosis and Isis. Cult of Luna was signed to Earache Records in the early 2000s and released five albums, including th ...

, The Ocean, Yndi Halda and

Baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...

. ''Bossk .2'' was released by Eyesofsound in October 2007. Touring on the back of the release saw the band play shows throughout the UK with

Devil Sold His Soul Devil Sold His Soul are an ambient influenced post-hardcore band from London, formed in 2004 and signed to Nuclear Blast. Three members of the band used to be in Mahumodo. They released their debut studio album '' A Fragile Hope'' on 18 Ju ...

and Ephel Duath, and with Cult of Luna and Humanfly on continental Europe. During early 2008, after a tour around the UK with Kruger, original members Nick Corney and Rob Vaughan left the band. Replacements were found and Bossk toured with Textures for a brief stint in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In May 2008 the band played their 200th show and their first headline show at the

Islington Academy The O2 Academy Islington, formerly known as the Carling Academy Islington, is an indoor music venue situated in the N1 Shopping Centre accessible via Upper Street and Liverpool Road, in the London Borough of Islington. It is run by the Academy ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In October of the same year Bossk broke up. Two final shows were played and the ''.3''

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

EP was released, along with a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

box-set of all their EPs. In August 2009, a split with

Rinoa is a character and the co-protagonist of Square (video game company), Square's (now Square Enix) 1999 role-playing video game ''Final Fantasy VIII''. She is a teenaged member of a resistance faction known as the Forest Owls. After she recruits ...

was released. This featured a

soundboard recording A soundboard recording is a sound recording of a concert taken from a direct connection to the soundboard at the venue. Soundboard recordings are considered to be among the highest quality bootleg recordings of live performances though some sound ...

of a new song which was to be used on the album the band were working on before they called it a day. In February 2012, the band announced plans to record a live BBC Maida Vale session and play two shows at a later date. In 2012, Bossk released the single "Pick Up Artist" through the American indie hardcore punk label

Deathwish Inc. Deathwish Inc. is an American independent record label conceived by Jacob Bannon of Converge and Tre McCarthy in 2000. Their first release was '' Deeper the Wound'', a split album between Converge and Japanese band Hellchild on April 23, 2001. D ...

Three years later in 2016, Bossk released its debut album titled ''Audio Noir,'' also released through Deathwish. Bossk released ''Migration'' in 2021 and performed their first headline tour since 2007 in December 2021, supporting this release, along with an appearance at

ArcTanGent In mathematics, the inverse trigonometric functions (occasionally also called ''antitrigonometric'', ''cyclometric'', or ''arcus'' functions) are the inverse functions of the trigonometric functions, under suitably restricted domains. Specific ...

in 2022. They also performed at

Damnation Festival Damnation Festival is an annual heavy metal music festival currently held at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester. It was held at Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester from 2005 to 2006 and then at the University of Leeds from 2007 until 2021. It ...

's "Night of Salvation" pre-show and Bloodstock Festival in 2023.

Members

;Current * Tom Begley – bass * Nick Corney – drums * Simon Wright – vocals * Alex Hamilton – guitar * Rob Vaughan – guitar, vocals ;Former * John Simmons – drums * Andrew Waghorn – guitar * Sam Marsh – vocals

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Audio Noir'' (2016) * ''Migration'' (2021) * ''.4'' (2024) ;EPs * ''.1'' (2006) * ''.2'' (2007) ;Splits and singles * ''Bossk / Rinoa'' (split with

) (2009) * ''Pick Up Artist / Albatross'' (2013) * ''HTV-3'' (2021) ;Compilations * ''.1 / .2'' (2008) ;Video albums * ''.3'' (2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossk (Band) Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Musical groups established in 2005 Post-metal musical groups Deathwish Inc. artists English musical quintets Musical groups reestablished in 2012 British sludge metal musical groups English stoner rock musical groups Musical groups from Kent