Heavy Rocks (2011)

A little under a decade after the first Heavy Rocks and a lot had changed for Japanese experimental doom trio Boris – 2006’s Pink broke them in the US and made them Pitchfork darlings (although ironically, Pitchfork’s Grayson Currin didn’t care for this one) – so they decided to celebrate with a few of the friends they’d made along the way. Even though they enlisted previous collaborators Michio Kurihara and Ian Astbury and new pals Aaron Turner and Faith Coloccia, they didn’t really need their help making a racket. They did that fine on their own. This feels like a “blowing off steam” album, which is honestly what they’re best at – their chemistry makes for magical reactions.