Boris and Merzbow are such natural complements, it’s surprising they haven’t collaborated more. As on 2007’s live platter Rock Dream, Gensho makes obvious how much each act enhances the other. While Boris mines the space between the heavy drone of its early-days Amplifier Worship and the hard-rock-meets-shoegaze appeal of later Heavy Rocks stu ff, Merzbow assembles an electronic caterwauling of grinding, sputtering electronics and clashing metallic sounds. On Rock Dream, the collaboration gave structure and pulse that Merzbow usually just implies, while giving Boris more gritty atmosphere.
Here, Boris and Merzbow act separately. The former’s disc revives cuts from Amplifier Worship’s “Vomitself” to Pink’s “Farewell,” cutting the percussion to focus more on the massive swells of guitars. Merzbow’s disc compiles four 20-minute tracks that find subtle grooves in a dynamic din. Separately, it’s an ideal split, but to really summon the Gensho, or phenomenon, intended, play both discs simultaneously for a heavy Zaireeka effect.
—Bryan C. Reed
