is the fourth collaborative studio album and seventh release by the 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 and

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

ian

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

. It is presented in two parts; the first disc features re-recordings of several Boris songs and a cover of the My Bloody Valentine song "Sometimes" in

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

-based, drumless style, while the second disc consists of new compositions by Merzbow. They are intended to be played at the same time, much like the previous Boris

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

'' Dronevil'', or as separate works. Initial teasers were posted at the start of the year, most prominently a live clip of "Huge" from the Fever performance on January 21. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' announced

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

streams of "Heavy Rain" and its accompanying section of "Goloka pt. 1" on February 5, 2016. Later in February,

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

debuted a live video of Boris alone playing the song "More" from Leave Them All Behind 2015.

Background

The album was inspired by their June 2014 Boiler Room set, during which Boris played a drumless set, followed by Merzbow, and then a joint set by Boris with Merzbow. In support of ''Gensho'', they played a one-off show at Fever in Tokyo on November 27, 2015; a recording of the concert called ''Gensho at Fever 11272015'' is included as a bonus with the Japanese release of ''Gensho'' by Daymare Recordings. It includes the recorded debut of a new Boris song "More", as well as a performance of rare song "Kilmister," created for the web anime series

Ninja Slayer is a novel series created by American authors Bradley Bond and Philip "Ninj@" Morzez. After they gave permission for Japanese translations to be published via Twitter, Enterbrain published the first translated novel in September 2012, wit ...

, and a cover of the

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

song "Many Are Called, but Few Get Up". Because the Boris tracks are primarily drone-based, both presented versions of the song "Akuma no Uta" are actually more similar to "Introduction" from the same album; regardless, the song is credited as "Akuma no Uta" on all versions. The vinyl version of the album is released as two separate double LPs; one LP with half of the Boris material and one LP with half of the Merzbow material. Thus, no matter which form is purchased, it is possible to play both contributors simultaneously. These are also available bundled together as a single deluxe edition. The deluxe LP was featured as Record of the Week by Pirates Press.

Critical reception

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 ...

critic Thom Jurek wrote: "When taken together, these records offer ever-varying degrees of light, dark, power, and emotion that wash over the listener. Creatively, ''Gensho'' is so rich and expansive, fans of both acts should find it indispensable."

Track listing

Gensho

Gensho at Fever 11272015

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from the album notes.

Boris

*Takeshi – vocals, guitar, bass *Wata – vocals, guitar, echo *Atsuo – vocals, percussion, electronics

Merzbow

Masami Akita is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

– electronics

Technical personnel

*Shinobu Narita – sound production (Boris) *Fangsanalsatan – recording (Boris), artwork *Soichiro Nakamura – mixing (Boris), mastering *Tadashi Hamada – A&R