Band: Boris The Blade

Album: Warpath

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Warpath

noun

Angry and ready or eager for confrontation

The new release from Melbourne deathcore titans Boris The Blade is their most visceral, technical and expressive release yet. Boris have been known since their inception to produce their own idea of brutal death metal and Warpath is no exception, it is a beautifully melodic cacophonous assault on the ears and your mind.

‘Warpath’ is a perfect title for this album as every aspect of the album seemingly points to a recurring theme of self-destruction and struggle.

Recently I had a chat with drummer Karl Steller about all things Warpath. Here’s what he said on the basic idea behind the album:

Karl: We wanted to go back to our musical roots a bit more with this album. By that, I mean we wanted to bring in parts of what got us all into metal in the first place. The idea of the album was for it to be more personal to us, to form a bit more of our own unique blend of metal. We’ve definitely opened up our style with this album, giving us the option to develop our sound even further in the future.

And developing sound is exactly what Boris The Blade have done with Warpath – While still staying true with the brutal sound of The Human Hive, Warpath hones a new exploration into what death metal is and it is increasingly evident that the band have greatly matured in the two odd years in between releases.

Opening tracks Warpath, Backstabber and Misery set the scene for the entire album. Groovy from the start, Warpath describes a deep conflict of self-destruction to an extremely dangerous level. Backstabber is similar in a way, with a similar lyrical theme but more directed towards a specific person.

What really impresses me about this one is that it is INCREDIBLY catchy, something death metal usually is intrinsically against. I won’t lie and say that I’ve been involuntarily drumming my hands along to the tune of that song since its release.

Misery, featuring recently re-joined Thy Art Is Murder front man CJ McMahon provides a perfect duality when it comes to vocals. Daniel Sharps rough, chainsaw like mid-range growls and CJ’s intense gutturals compliment in a way that other guest spots in the genre perhaps do to a lesser extent. Musically, guitarists Josh Lording and Cameron Eyre truly shine. Showcasing their talent as total riff lords, this track especially is sure to get guitar enthusiasts scratching their heads in an effort to figure out how the hell they can replicate it accurately.

On the harsh lyrical themes this album faces, Karl said this:

Karl: As far as I understand, the lyrics aren’t so much aimed at any one person in particular but are more so related to personal experiences with family, friendships and relationships of members of the band. A majority of the lyrics were written by Sharpy but Josh was involved there too. Most of the lyrical content comes back to personal experiences mostly of Sharpy. Though I guess all of us in the band can relate to the themes of self-destruction and internal conflict in one form or another. We are all at an age where life changes a lot. Different pressures from friendships, family, work, tours, etc has had us all pretty stressed out. We’ve been a bit all over the place mentally and the writing and recording process of this album has definitely reflected that.

Warpath also features 3 guest vocal spots by some metal juggernauts. The aforementioned CJ McMahon of Thy Art Is Murder, Scott Lewis of Carnifex and Tim Goergen of Within The Ruins – bands that Boris The Blade have previously played with. The latter two sharing stages across Europe. I asked Karl about the ideas behind these guest spots.

Karl: CJ is a good mate of ours and was around when vocal tracking was taking place in Sydney. He has a killer voice and we just had to have him on board. We became friends with Scott and Tim on tours overseas. They are both really talented vocalists who are well respected in the scene and we just wanted them to be a part of the album!

Closing tracks Elixir (ft. Tim Goergen) and Solace are constructed very well. Despite being the two songs to finish an already intense half hour of aural brutality, they show no sign of letting any issue unturned. Elixir is strong with spoken word sections which vocalist Daniel Sharp expresses in a very poignant way – Elixir is a very groovy, but haunting tune.

Solace is a perfect way to round of this album. The lyrics show to me a scene of suffering and desperation, a consistent theme of the album. This is complimented by Josh and Cameron’s intricate usage of ominous guitar tones to enhance not only the aural, but the visual message of this album.

At the time of writing, Boris haven’t any shows announced to the public, but when I asked Karl about his dream venue/lineup combo, he had this to say.

Karl: Personally, I’d love to play at Red Rocks in Colorado. Just seems so fucking awesome from all the footage and photos I’ve seen of it. I would love to play alongside Slipknot as they were one of my biggest influences growing up listening to metal and their shows are just so full of energy! Whether or not that venue would suit them is another matter…



As with my previous interview post, I asked Karl a few other little questions to get to know him a bit better.

Favourite moment in BTB?

I can’t say I have one in particular. I’ve had too many to pick just one. Being able to travel the world with my brothers in BTB overall has been the best thing I could have ever asked for.

Favourite bands?

Pendulum and Incubus

Favourite albums?

Slipknot – self titled

Pendulum – Immersion

Best shows attended?

2006 – IKTPQ, Unearth, Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage at the Palace in St Kilda

2009 – Summer Slaughter (Necrophagist, Dying Fetus, Aborted, The Faceless)

Best shows played?

Texas Independence Fest 2015

South by so what Festival 2015

New England Hardcore and Metal Festival 2015

Warpath is now available everywhere in the world via the bands website, iTunes and pretty much everywhere online. Enjoy it as much as I did!