Bosse-de-Nage iii
Review

Last year, San Francisco’s Bosse-de-Nage released one of my favorite albums of 2012. The follow up to their self-titled debut, simply called “ii” was a compelling mix of black metal, post rock and indie rock. Drawing heavily from the 90s post rock outfit Slint as well as black metal, Bosse-de-Nage have crafted a sound that is unique entirely to them. Much like Roads to Judah by San Francisco’s Deafheaven, it’s been demonstrated that the black metal sound can be injected with other influences like shoegaze and post rock. Sometimes these influences are at the forefront and the black metal elements are merely an afterthought. When pulled off, like both Bosse-de-Nage and Deafheaven do, the results are astounding. Now with their album iii, Bosse-de-Nage plunge even further into post and indie rock, slowly evolving from black metal with tremendous results. It makes me think that some of the best black metal being made today isn’t really black metal at all. Read the rest of the review after the jump!

With ii, Bosse-de-Nage proved that they are near immaculate songwriters. From start to finish, ii was an intense, emotional and catchy listen. On iii, they have further ramped up the songwriting, offering a huge range of feeling through the guitar work. The album opener, “The Arborist” is familiar territory. Right away we’re hit with a blackened pummel and torturous screams. The song would fit in fine on ii, allowing for a smooth transition from album to album. But it’s the second song, “Desuetude,” where we realize that iii is blossoming into something new. The song is punchy and upbeat, which provides a provocative contrast to the black metal vocals. All of the sudden, everything stops and the guitars bubble lightly over a tight snare roll before kicking back full force. In less than a minute in a half, the band jerks the listener in so many different directions you can’t help but get sucked in. After four and a half minutes, everything drops out except for a steady bassline. Guitar and drums slowly build back on top before everything explodes again and one of the most gut-wrenching vocal performances on the album is delivered again. “Perceive There A Silence” changes pace again, with the track never reaching full-bore black metal intensity, but more favoring an indie rock feel. Things get pushed even further into the weird with “Cells,” which could very well be a lost Slint track (if you haven’t heard Slint go check out Spiderland immediately). The song has lightly picked notes over a militaristic marching drum beat with a spoken word piece under everything. The next track, the ten and a half minute epic “The God Ennui,” is the band at its finest. Lonesome guitar chords breathe heavily, the dead space in between strums is crushing. The first half of the song is buildup, driving home the melody and mood for over five minutes. The dam bursts and the most beautiful and moving moment on the whole album occurs. Everything lets loose in a breathtaking display of aggression, frustration and sadness. When you wonder where the album can possibly go from here, your heart still aching from the droned out chord progression of the preceding song, you hear “There’s a ledge somewhere, set against a deadly precipice, which springs nostalgic winds never reach” and the emotional upheaval begins again with album closer “An Ideal Ledge.” It seems impossible to carry on at this point, it feels like the band has given their all. Yet the continue on with steady pounding drums, soaring guitar, thudding bass and borderline manic vocals. The gorgeous “headed home” feel of the song makes you think they might be able to top “Ennui” in terms of emotional content, but at three minutes, the momentum is intentionally destroyed and the song smolders to a close for six more minutes.
Bosse-de-Nage have taste in spades. Everything on this album is done so tastefully, the guitar tone, spoken word, samples and basically every choice made on this album serves a purpose. It’s also worth noting that the drumming on this album is astounding. The energy and precision of the drumming on this album is above and beyond their previous two records, and the drums have so much more character than a lot of black metal albums. Then again I’m not sure if you can call ii a black metal album. Black metal or not, iii is my favorite album of the year so far.
iii comes out tomorrow 6/26 on Profound Lore, their first with the label after working previously with the excellent Flenser Records. Bosse-de-Nage are secretive and eschew typical band activities such as touring or giving interviews, so don’t hold your breath for a national tour. But by all means pick up a copy of the record.
For live footage and photos of Bosse-de-Nage, check out this post!