Boris & Ian Astbury

Powerful songs, only thing is very short, when you start ro enjoying it it ends so fast. However is really niceThe instrumentation and vocals are killer. I strongly suggested this record.

Deep!

These are four powerful songs by Boris and Ian Astbury. I have just revisited this album, years after its original release, and I think that it holds up very well. I had been huge fan of both artists - Ian with the Cult and Boris when I began getting acquainted little bit more with the sludge/post/doom/drone metal. I think that this album will appeal to fans of both bands, although I think that Ian's voice is so powerful that this sounds just a tiny bit more like an Ian album than a Boris album (or an album by the Cult even?), but with different kind of instrumentation. Regarding the music, other than the very nice Rain cover, of course, It's not really that similar to any of the Cult albums, but perhaps it would resemble most to the edgy "Black Sheep" / The Witch era in terms of the vibe. Regarding Boris, this perhaps is most similar to the songs from Pink, Smile, or Heavy Rocks 2012 (where Ian guests as well on one of the tracks). Highly recommended!

BXI is the so-so collaboration project between Boris and Ian Astbury of The Cult/The Doors fame. Ian Astbury seems to be the active ingredient in this mix, as the songs have a greater Cult flair than a Boris flair, which means that there are no glorious feedback-drenched moments, nor any whispering experimentation (Boris turned the tables with Astbury's contribution to the opening track of Heavy Rocks 2011, "Riot Sugar", where his contribution hardly adds up to background vocals of any but the thinnest variety, completely superfluous). The first song "Teeth and Claws" is a pretty average rocker, punctuated with the Astbury wail that is sounding a wee bit thin, urging us to "Attack attack attack/Animals will save us." The song ends with a young girl speaking Japanese, finally saying in English "the animals will save us." This must be the Wata and Atsuo's daughter Yema, whose voice I suppose it is that we hear baby-squealing at the beginning of Smile's "Buzz-In. The most exciting thing about "We are Witches" is the title. "Rain" is a cover of the famous Cult song sung by Wata, Ian is nowhere to be seen, and it's done in shoegazer-ish fashion with Wata giving a deadpan, sweet-sounding and droning vocal delivery. Additional guitar wails are provided by Kurihara Michio, the band's fourth member on a semi-permanent basis. Closing number "Magickal Child" is a bit more in Boris form, slow and loud and heavy.

How come reviews for this awesome e.p. aren't flooding this and other sites? I mean, Boris is sort of undergroundish, that's for sure... but Ian Atsbury is or used to be a bona-fide rock star, so where are the fans and the real detractors?! C'mon, people, this guy sang for the Doors not too long ago, and he's penned some mighty fine songs with his love 'em/hate 'em group, The Cult... which back in the day sold millions of copies worldwide.. could it be the gods in charge of the Dept. of Cosmic and Poetic Justice have died a horrible and lonely death?Ok, whatever: right now i'm hung over, and that might explain the semi-psychedelic state i'm in. don't have the time to pause and ponder the sources or causes, BUT i swear i just had a quasi-mystical experience listening to this batch of songs. it is indeed one of the best e.p.'s ever. Atsbury is in fine form, and my eyes swelled with tears listening to the lyrics he wrote for 'teeth and claws' and 'magickal child': yes the forest has seen my sorrows, and yes, i do hope the animals (not the band haha) save us, even if that means the end of my life or even of our overrated, exploitative human species... and their cover of 'rain' is superb. ironically,Ian is absent form that particular song, and the vocals are handled by Wata, Boris' guitar player. her voice is so frail and tender that it could be almost comical, but the overall effect is nothing short of otherworldly, even eerie, uncanny. and you gotta love the song's ending, you know, that small, ghostly voice singing a capella: 'heel comes de lain'! pure genius... and fear not, the music's pure Boris: heavy, waaay noisy, and waaaaaaaay catchy. get it so that this line-up can go on tour opening for, say, Metallica or something big, just like when i saw The Cult open for those former gods of mine back in '89! the masses need to be enlightened, me thinks... over and out.

OMFG! That's right... BXI is such an amazing release that the only flaw I can find is that it's way too short of a play time for an epic release such as this. Any Boris fan should love this release and I also recommend fans of The Cult to check this out. Ian Astbury's vocals are a perfect match with Boris. There is an exceptional cover of The Cults classic, Rain along with 3 songs put together by Boris and Ian Astbury. The emotion felt while listening is well worth the small amount of cash you will spend especially considering it will be played over and over again. You may ask how I know this? Buy this and find out. This is truly epic rock and I hope to find more bands delivering at this level. The CD starts off at a steady emotive pace with Teeth And Claws, next is a rockin upbeat number called We Are Witches then you get blasted with that sick cover of Rain, then the ep ends with the triumphant sounds of the song Magical Child. After that, I'm sorry but you will be left with wanting more. There is one solution...listen to it again and again. I truly hope this will not be the only release from this group. The world needs more...

After the Doors fiasco, I was worried where he might be going here. No worries. Rip roaring hellfire! The best you could hope for even if it were even a Cult reunion. Better than you could imagine.I dont know Boris from Natascha but I will have to check them out on the basis of this.

great stuff from an amazing singer.

have a brilliant group and a fantastic singer come togther to produce such a wonderful Ep (for thats what it is) it makes me wonder what it would be like for this to be expanded into a full length albumit's so damn good please please expand it by bringing both your works together (i know they wont read this but ....)for those of who you haven't got this in your collections believe me when i say its a must ... buy it buy it BUY IT

When you leave your comfort zone and try some new - this is the album it shows.

Excelente combinación de la musica de Boris con Ian. Le dan la vuelta a todo lo que conocemos de ambos mundos