Boris (Takeshi & Wata) Portrait Painting

Boris are a band from Tokyo, Japan.

Boris have been notably active since 1992 performing a variety of music, notably heavy music over a career that spans nearly 25 years. Initially as a 4-piece sludge/hardcore band, the band has been a three-piece since 1996 with a knack for performing music in all sorts of genres, heavy or ambient or even poppy. Thus the band is hard to categorize as their sound is never consistent from release to release with lyrics drawing into various subjects such as dreams, sensations and random incidents. The band is known for constant recording and productive output, many of their albums recorded live-in-the-studio.

Notably the band themselves have been known for stylizing their name for releases ("BORIS" identifying heavier releases while "boris" identifies lighter, more ambient works), parodying album covers, lead vocalist Takeshi's keen interest in double-necked guitars and establishing themselves as a Japanese band with a great deal of worldwide success, especially with their partnership with Southern Lord Records that lasted nearly a decade. Even with worldwide distribution with Southern Lord and now Sargent House the band has also published a host of releases under independent labels such as Inoxia, Daymare and their own art imprint Fangs Anal Satan.

They are named after the Melvins song "Boris". Boris' personal label and art collective "Fangs Anal Satan" is derived from the Melvins song "Anal Satan". -"Riffipedia"