Audio Noir - Bossk (2016)

Ideated from: clearing out the oldest items in my inbox

There can’t be a lot of competition for the title of “best metal band named after a minor Star Wars character” but these guys are clearly leading the category.

I got a lot of play out of Bossk’s second album, Migration, so I wanted to see what their debut was like. This one is pretty clearly not as mature or accomplished as Migration, but it’s an enjoyable listen.

The general idea here is “post metal.” The post part is about making music with traditional rock instrumentation, but in non-rock ways rather than the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure. In Bossk’s case, it builds and layers more like an electronic or modern minimalist piece. The metal part of post metal, as you might imagine, means it turns everything up to 11.

The album’s tracks mostly start slowly and build to a frenzy, with some atmospheric ambient sounds or low-key clean guitar progressing into a snarling foam.

This one isn’t going to replace Migration as my favorite of theirs. But it’s good in its own right, and a signpost for what they’d do more cogently later.

Tracks I Liked:

The Reverie - sure it’s a little simplistic, but turn it up and I dare you not to rock-grimace when the riff gets to grinding.

Relancer - stretched out and heavy on the smothering atmosphere

Atom Smasher - shoves. That is all.