Amplifier Worship

Amplifier Worship is the debut studio album by Japanese post-metal band Boris, released originally on November 26, 1998, later reissued by American labels Southern Lord and Third Man in 2003, 2010, and 2024.

This album marks the first time that Takeshi performed lead vocals for the band (although Atsuo performs lead vocals on "Huge"). "Vomitself" was written and laid down separately at Sound Square while the other four songs were recorded at Sound Crew. Japanese production company (and friends of the band) FoodUnited created videos for the songs "Hama" and "Kuruimizu". These were initially only available in 1998 on a promotional VHS but following the band creating their own (subscription) YouTube Channel in 2023, these videos are again available to watch.^[2]

Amplifier Worship was originally released in 1998 exclusively on CD locally in Japan by the Mangrove label - an independent Tokyo based record label that mainly focused on punk, hard-rock, metal and fringe heavy music from Japan. In the early 90s it evolved into the physical record store Record Store Base - located in Suginami, Tokyo, that still operates today.

The first reissue of the album was done by American label Southern Lord in 2003. This was a CD only reissue for international release. The audio is the same as the original Mangrove release, however the artwork had been reimagined by Stephen O'Malley. The initial pressing of this release was in a green colored jewel case with some copies including an edible gummy worm in the CD spine. At time of release, there were rumors that said worm had hallucinogenic properties akin to those of LSD when eaten though these rumors have been denied by Southern Lord, the band, and people who actually ate their worm.^[3]

The Southern Lord vinyl reissue in 2010 features updated artwork (again handled by Stephen O'Malley) and was pressed in editions of 1,000 copies on green vinyl and 2,000 copies on black vinyl, both at 180gram.^[4] Where as absolutego was remixed for the vinyl reissue, Amplifier Worship had the original audio mastered for vinyl. This vinyl pressing uses the same crossfading despite the track order change and the inability to segue across sides; these issues are solved either with new crossfades (the two songs on side A) or cut offs (the rest of the sides).

En 2020, el álbum fue reeditado en vinilo en Estados Unidos por segunda vez, esta vez a través de Third Man Records. Se recuperó la portada original de 1998 y las grabaciones originales fueron completamente remasterizadas. La música también se lanzó en formato digital/streaming por primera vez. ^{[ 5 ]} El vinilo se prensó en vinilo negro y en una edición limitada de vinilo de color, así como una variante de vinilo de edición de gira. Al mismo tiempo, el sello Mangrove de Japón reeditó el álbum en CD. Utilizando la portada original y el audio remasterizado, esta edición se lanzó en un digipak desplegable (a diferencia de la caja original de plástico).

Third Man Records lanzó una "Edición del 25 Aniversario" del álbum en septiembre de 2024. Esta edición única en vinilo se realizó en vinilo de color y presentó una portada rediseñada por Arron Horkey (a petición de la banda). En su comunicado de prensa de la época, Boris comentó sobre la portada: "Esta idea surgió de la experiencia de Aaron al encontrar 'gusanos de goma en la caja del CD' durante el lanzamiento de 'Amplifier Worship'". ^{[ 6 ]}

Algunos de los títulos de las pistas se publicaron originalmente en japonés (2, 3 y 4).

• Wata - guitarra, efectos y electrónica
• Takeshi - voz, bajo y electrónica
• Atsuo - voz, batería, platillos y batería electrónica
• Osamu Seino - ingeniero (pistas 1 a 4)
• Eiji Hashizume - ingeniero (pista 5)
• Colmillos Anal Satanás - obra de arte

• Boris en Discogs
• Amplifier Worship en MusicBrainz (lista de lanzamientos)