The legendary Boris are greeting their 30-year career as one of experimental music’s most forward-thinking, heavy, and innovative bands. Continuing to expand their prolific catalog, the group returns with Heavy Rocks (2022) (out on August 12th via Relapse Records) and once again channels the classic proto-metal sounds of the 70’s into something all new. Boris formed in 1992 and eventually arrived at the band’s current lineup of Takeshi, Wata, and Atsuo in 1996. In the years since, Boris has tirelessly explored their own rendition of what is heavy through methods entirely their own. Though the depths of their “heaviness” may intensify, their unique musicianship defies classification in any one genre or style, so let’s just call it real “heavy music” in extreme color. Their music has been called a “game changer” regarding the leading edge of the world’s rock scene, and that influence is limitless. They enter realms that cannot be described simply in terms of the “explosive sound” or “thunderous roars” that have become their trademark. Recently, the group ramped up during the pandemic and released the most extreme album of their long and widely celebrated career, NO. Boris self-released the album, desiring to get it out as quickly as possible but intentionally called the final track on the album “Interlude” while planning its follow-up. Its successor came with W, their 2022 release for Sacred Bones Records. NO and W weave together to form NOW, a duo of releases that respond to one another. In following their hardest album with this sensuous thundering masterpiece they are creating a continuous circle of harshness and healing, one that seems more relevant now than ever and shows the band operating at an apex of their musical career. Additionally, Boris guitarist Wata released her own signature fuzz pedal, “Hizumitas,” via the EarthQuaker Devices, and the band continues to increase their output from their own unique standpoint.

The Melvins are one of modern music’s most influential bands. Having formed in 1983 Montesano, Washington, the group founded by singer/guitar player Buzz Osborne (with stalwart drummer Dale Crover joining the following year), has been credited withmerging the worlds of punk rock and heavy music, forming a new subgenre all its own. Over the band’s nearly 40-year history, they’ve released over 30 original albums, numerous live full-lengths and far too many to count singles and rarities. Most recently they released the 36-track acoustic collection Five Legged Dog, featuring reinterpretations of some of their heaviest songs as well as covers from their favorite artists. In the course of their discography, they’ve partnered with Jello Biafra, Mudhoney, and Fantômas for individual releases and toured the world many times over. In fact, the band had the misfortune to be in both Christchurch and Tokyo for their 2011 earthquakes. In 2012, the Melvins completed the “51 States in 51 Days” (50 states +DC) tour, which was chronicled in the film “Across The USA in 51 Days.” The current incarnation of the band is Osborne, Crover, and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross/OFF!). Previous line-ups include a pairing of Osborne and Crover with Big Business band members Jared Warren and Coady Willis, a four-piece featuring the current trio plus Butthole Surfers’ Jeff Pinkus, as well as Melvins Lite, which partners Osborne and Crover with Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn. Sometimes, if you’re extra lucky, one version of the Melvins will open for the Melvins.