Getting fried and drinking my morning coffee to this

Naraka holy f***

Into the magic land

My goats

Man. I'd be lying if I said this didn't catch me by surprise.

Absolutely loved Boards back in the day, got into their classics in the years leading up to Tomorrow's Harvest and was completely underwhelmed by that album when it dropped. It's not a bad album by any means, but it felt like such a step back from Campfire Headphase and before. It was just as heady and intricate, but the themes didn't click the way I hoped they would and it felt like it never found its stride sonically. Every wave crested before it could really break. I definitely went into this album release cycle assuming more along those lines, maybe even more subdued given that these guys are now in their mid-50s.

Prophecy was the first sign I might've been wrong, and I didn't hear it until the listening party I decided to go to at the record store up the street day of. Good lord. What a way to start a record, and what a cool evolution of their sound. It does feel like an evolution of Tomorrow's Harvest in its soundscapes, but these songs hit MUCH harder and much faster. I was already locked in head nodding by the time Hydrogen Helium's break kicked in.

The religious doomsday themes are very on the nose, no getting around that. But it feels urgent rather than preachy - especially when the instrumentals mirror the disturbing feeling that the vocal samples are meant to evoke. Father and Son is a truly sinister song and god damn does it work. I've known enough people on the son's end of the religious spectrum to know how futile that conversation was to begin with. It feels particularly fascinating to see the mirror held up with Crowley's satanism later on in the album; no matter how creepy the sacrifice passage is, it's hard to forget that organized christofascism has far outpaced any form of satanism in its damage to society at this point. Counterbalancing with Hindu and Buddhist themes that alternate between comparatively comforting and eerie in their own right kept me on my toes, and it felt like a journey through religion as escapism and apocalyptic dogma by the end.

I kept thinking how this must sound like what religious psychosis feels like: paranoid, then calming, then confrontational, then warm and welcoming, then violent and isolated before you could realize it. Ending with nervously dissonant chords, a heartbeat, and quiet morse code before abrupt silence felt like a logical conclusion and an extinguishing of a soul desperate for something more out of life and only finding emptiness in the promise of salvation.

Two listens in and I find this album absolutely gripping. It's hard to pick out individual tracks because of how strong the full album listen is, but Prophecy, Hydrogen Helium, Naraka, The Word Becomes Flesh, Blood In The Labyrinth, Deep Time, Arena Americanada, and You Retreat In Time And Space were the ones I added to my playlist on the first DSP listen. Can't wait to keep revisiting, they really knocked it out of the park on this one and I'm absolutely stoked to have something of this depth to dig into from them again.

just had to make sure you didn’t feel special cause you know they’re not actually Canadian

All reason departs 🙂‍↕️

This is literally what I dreamt a boc album in 2026 would be

Holy s*** man

I still can't believe this of all albums is what the Trump admin chose to steal for an IG post promoting fascism lmao

Like All Reason Departs sounds like Curtis Yarvin s***, and they directly quote Aleister Crowley multiple times, but sure this seems like a reasonable thing to promote the right wing surveillance state with

Perfectly said

our wavelengths rn 🤞🤞🤞

You’re so tuff bro how do you do it

Naraka?????????????
wwhat the f*** are they feeding them in scottland

this is insane

Why are you so angry on this beautiful Friday? Clearly a joke you fragile bird

When the chants come in

actaully started floating

Honestly though I got $10 that Viet didn't actually know and has to act like he didn't google it and just had to be a know it all because god forbid someone pop a joke at him

Clown

bonus track

What was up with the hate campaign the publications had for this pre-release? This is great

It had good reviews pre-release, only The Guardian hated it.

This was obviously good; you’d be crazy to deny the quality. Unfortunately it doesn’t have that Music Has The Right/Geogaddi magic, nothing here thrills or mystifies me and I think part of that is because the tracks are overstuffed. It’s very cinematic and propulsive music with crests and climaxes, which makes sense with the theme. Idk if that’s their strong suit though

Geogaddi IMO is their best s*** ever, and a lot of those songs are super simple in that they take 2-3 weird sounds and give them space to mutate across sparse-to-nonexistant beats. This feels a lot closer to OPN’s latest album (not an insult)

Personally I think it’s no point to try and compare modern BoC projects to MHTRTC or Geogaddi tbh . They’ve released 3 albums since Geogaddi and none of those projects have really any similarities to their first 2 albums

I think they’ve just decided to approach their music a lot differently now .

Also their first 2 albums are back to back genre defining classics, it’s basically impossible to try and replicate that type of magic

i think the ebb and flow of the production works well because it emphasizes the claustrophobia/paranoia throughout the album…shit makes me feel like i’m being initiated into a cult

it’s a nice change in pace, i fw the spooky vibes

Blood in the labyrinth is so good