Live reviews

Boris + Suma
- Loppen, CPH, April 17th 2006

By Jon A

Leave all hope behind you, leave your knives at home, and for goodness’ sake, lock up your loved ones! Suma feel like dark beer that’s been shaken to release the pressure just a little at a time, leaving a cold, murky stew to drown in. I didn’t remember them as being this dark and hopeless when I first saw them back in September supporting Unsane, but maybe someone has taken heed to the recent Sunn O))) hype that’s been building up. Not that they sound anything like the satanic monks, for one thing, they’re a lot groovier – not that Sunn O))) are in any way groovy – with a few Kyuss-y melody lines thrown into the maelstrom to be torn apart like a dear fallen in icy water, banged mercilessly against the rocks, beaten to a bloody pulp. But what they do seem to share with Sunn O))) is the whole Buddhist approach to the drone, the noise building up as a form of catharsis, a release of all things evil within, to make peace with them, or something. Total Viking doom rock, in other words, like Neurosis meets Kyuss in a Melvins jam. Extremely heavy, excessively down-tuned, absolutely excellent!
Talk about down-tuned: Tonight’s headliners, Boris, even tune down the drums. Yeah! Suma, who probably should be renamed Sumo for the sheer heaviness of their music, were a hard act to follow, but from the beginning, it was clear that Boris were going to be just as heavy, if with less beard and a more psychedelic approach to their music. They had the audience with them, a halfway-full club of devotees, and they played a lot of the faster, more easily accessible stoner rock songs from the “Pink” album, which even got people dancing a few places. They were good, brilliant, I even saw my colleague Jens get up in front for this one, after having sulked with his beers by a table in the back throughout Suma’s set, and I’m pretty much sure they were the highlight of the evening to most people there. I just couldn’t help feeling they lacked some of the power Suma had had, especially in the vocals.
What a perfect way to end an Easter holiday spent drinking, eating meat, and going to see bands and movies and movies about bands: A true headcleaner, leaving your intestines shaken loose, your ears rinsed out, your brain a pitch-black hole, and your mind at peace. Now welcome to the working week.