- https://boorband.bandcamp.com/album/the-dense-drag
- Release Date: 04/01/2025
- Brainerd, 5 Piece (Vox, Guitar, Guitar, Bass, Drums)
- Bandcamp tags: black metal, groove metal, metal, atmospheric metal, doom metal, sludge metal, Brainerd
- Written/recorded at Gold Stream Studios (Bigly Taxed Records). Mixed/mastered by James Plotkin.
Review by ÆRæder
Background
I saw a social media post about a July 19 gig in the James Cullen room at Ya Sure Kombucha in Brainerd. This is a venue I have heard about and been wanting to check out. Seeing Bong Reaper and Cryptic Derision on the bill piqued my interest. I did some digging into Boor and found out they had recently released their debut EP. I spun The Dense Drag on Bandcamp 2 or 3 times and knew I needed to delve deeper into this, so I ordered the CD. The band engaged in messages via Bandcamp right away, which is always cool, and in just a couple days I had the CD in my hands.
After listening to this album over 21 times, here is my take:
Sound/Mix
I went through this phase a decade or so ago when I got rid of some giant CD/Cassette player and speakers I had since childhood because they occupied so much space. Streaming just seemed to be the way of the future. I’ve swung back more towards physical copies of (good) music after noticing the sometimes slightly and sometimes significantly higher quality in physical vs streamed tunes.
The Dense Drag is slightly better on CD. Some of the things I am listening for are the depth and feel of the bass and the bass drum, the balance between each instrument and the vocals, and the overall volume. I want something that is LOUD, so I have some headroom to crank it and feel it. The Dense Drag came in the upper middle of the road here. Overall volume gives that headroom, the vocals are seated just about perfectly, but the guitars dominate; drums fall beneath them, and bass is barely perceptible. I was able to listen to this album a ton and not get too irritated by anything though, so for a debut EP, soundwise Boor has something they can be proud of years down the road.
Performance
I love it when bands fill up their self-tags on bandcamp with multiple accurate descriptors. I try not to look at them too much in the first few rounds of listening so I can get more of a clean-slate impression. The black metal aspect is immediately apparent in the opening track, “The Dense Drag”, a haunting atmospheric, synthy, driving acoustic and bass prelude-type tune. I saw some pics of a set list on soc, and this would be killer to see in person.
I pulled in my 16-year old metalhead son to listen to some portions of the other tracks because they were throwing me a bit. Skip played some select portions for him, and his first verbal response was “Groove metal. They sound like riffs Pantera might play.” Then I had to go look at Bandcamp, and, yep, he was correct. The second track, “Soul Dusk”, and fourth track, “Aim to Fail”, capture this unique black groove thing most succinctly.
The third track, “Orison”, goes back to the black focus, and to my ear also highlights the sludgy aspect of the band. “Orison” is definitely the rager on this album; the rhythms in this tune are absolutely savage and made me want to start a mosh pit with my grills out on the patio. While all of the songs feature diverse riffage, rhythm, and varying levels of intensity, the fifth and final track, “Spikes”, is probably the most diverse and engaging. Midway through this tune, Boor slows it down with some more haunting, atmospheric stuff. Heavy, doomy, with some well placed tremolo type guitar licks, the album cover and CD graphics look like they would sound like this.
Highlights
The album as a whole flows so well. A major piece of that is writing and arranging songs that lead to a climax, and finishing with something that concludes the components into one cohesive musical story. “Aim to Fail” is the climax I picked up on, and I started waiting for, and appreciating, the buildup towards it. “Aim”’s intro is a headbanger and there are several other earworm type riffs and drum beats in this song that call for cranked volume. “Spikes” is a solid closer that brings the album full circle, and offers a doomy teaser of what Boor might have to offer in years to come.
Shade
The bass sounded a bit like it got Newsted’s And Justice for All treatment on this album. I couldn’t pick up on the lack of low frequency right away, but once I did, it started nagging on me (when I listened on headphones, i kept jamming them up tight to my ears to make sure the bass was actually there, lol). I played this through a number of different speakers, and I still can’t fully tell if I can hear it unless there is a bass run where the other instruments take a short pause (e.g. Intro “The Dense Drag” and some segments of “Spikes”). This band’s style is slow enough to demand that low end stand out, BIG, through the entire album.
Summary
This album is fun to listen to. Boor pushes some styles together into a somewhat atypical sound that is heavy, harsh, and aggressive, but very smoothly combined to produce a final product that is very impressive for a debut. I do not quite get the whole EP / LP thing. This album has 5 songs clocking in at a bit under 23 minutes, but there is enough purposeful content on here for me to say this should not be regarded as “just an EP” with hopes for a full length album. I don’t want to listen to 10-12 songs that feel forced. The scope and flow of each song on this album feel balanced, intentionally, and artistically crafted to create a solid whole. Boor, keep doing what you did here, get some gigs in the metro area, and your future will be bright.