Boarzoy’s Latest LP Is A Notable New Addition To 2026’s New Independent Albums Field

By: Philip Sayblack

​Early this month, independent metal act Boarzoy released its latest album, The Great Fires.  The band’s apparent second full-length studio recording, the 38-minute record proves itself a unique addition to this year’s field of new independent albums, this in part because of its featured musical arrangements.  The 9-song record’s lyrical body makes for its own share of interest.  The record’s production rounds out its most important elements.  Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of The Great Fires.  All things considered they make The Great Fires a heavy record that audiences will agree is worth hearing at least once.
The Great Fires, the recently released sophomore album from independent metal act Boarzoy, is an interesting offering from the band that definitely has carved out its own place among this year’s field of new independent albums.  That is proven in large part through its featured musical arrangements.  The album’s musical body is, from beginning to end, a presentation that really defies classification.  At points, there are hardcore elements.  At others, listeners can hear some subtle doom nods blended into that hardcore approach.  At still other moments, audiences can hear groove elements and even some metalcore.
Right from the record’s outset, ‘Even in the Rain,’ audiences get an intense guitar-driven arrangement that exhibits the noted blend of metalcore and hardcore. The screams and the clean vocals that bounce off of one another here work with the richness in the instrumental performances to make it a powerful introduction to the album and equally strong first impression for new audiences.  ‘Agency (Is Necessary)’ goes in a completely different direction, offering comparison to some of Lamb of God’s more recent doom-influenced works while ‘David,’ which comes even later in the album’s run, goes even deeper into the doom realm.  Its plodding, crunching guitars and thunderous rhythm section’s work pairs with the vocals to make it yet another unique work in itself.  At the same time, that familiar intense screaming is there, making the arrangement all the more unique.  Simply put, when this song and the others examined here are considered alongside the rest of the album’s entries, the overall presentation makes The Great Fires’ musical body reason enough in itself for audiences to take in this record.
As if all of this is not enough, the full-on spoken word presentation that is ‘Something Beautiful’ adds yet another layer of interest to the whole.  The album’s penultimate entry, it features front man Rennie Boyd delivering a poem of sorts about what is and is not love.  As Boy waxes philosophical (and even theological), a gentle, flowing piano and string arrangement provides the musical backing, really setting quite the emotional bed. The whole stands out just as much on its own merits as the rest of the album’s musical presentations.  When it and the rest of the entries examined here are considered along with the rest of the album’s entries, the whole therein makes The Great Fires’ musical body reason in itself to take in this album.
The lyrical content that accompanies the album’s musical body is just one part of what makes The Great Fires so intriguing.  The decidedly overly metaphorical language that is used throughout the album is certain to make for plenty of discussion.  That is because they leave for so much room for interpretation.  Save for Boyd’s clear explanation that ‘Wartime Softshoe’ is an anti-war protest song right at the song’s opening, the rest of the album’s lyrical themes are left very much for discussion.  Case in point is the early entry, ‘Pitchers.’  This song finds Boyd half screaming – half speaking, “Two steps from home/And the smell of mint, tobacco, and rum/Pull me out of the catacombs/Build a castle for us all/Before we’re done/I always hope to see you there/Without you/It’s not the same/It’s why I came here in the first place/For a chance to call your name/I don’t wanna be/In a world bereft of this/This feeling I have now/Often obscured by an opaque and heavy veil/Too easy to ignore/But I won’t anymore/I will learn to speak that language/And I will listen every day/And sometime the clouds will go away/I will listen every day and express/The things that cannot be conveyed/My love is a hundred pitchers of honey.”  Reading this, the song comes across as being maybe someone who is seemingly reminiscing about his younger days.  This is only this critic’s interpretation.  The interpretation comes right from the outset as the subject notes the familiar scents and hoping to see someone in particular.  This sort of remembering typically is associated with such stories.  The mentions of leaning to speak a certain language and of clouds going away seems to point even more at that seemingly positive remembering. 
From here the song gets just as metaphorical as Boyd writes of the people missed by the subject that they are “slabs of ingot and copper,” “12 goats standing silent in the sun.”  In doing some research, the matter of the goats would seem to reference how goats stand in the sun, taking in its warmth while the note of the ingot and copper would seem to hint at said people being invaluable, a copper ingots are used for so many purposes.  Again, herein is so much metaphorical language that leaves so much room for interpretation and discussion.  Keeping in mind everything noted, this song’s lyrical content leaves no doubt as to the importance of the album’s lyrical themes.
‘’Agency (Is Necessary)’ is another example of the depth and importance of the album’s lyrical themes.  The very term “Agency” has multiple meanings.  In the case of this song, the term would seem to point at the matter of a person’s ability to impact his or her own thoughts and behaviors (IE one’s personal agency).  If in fact that is the case, then this is a very deep way of examining a familiar topic just from that very title.  It would seem to fit, too, considering the song’s overall content, which opens, “I want to be conscious/I want to be free/Doors that beg to be opened and walked through surround me/Cloudy eyes and heavy feet/Would you take a chance to run away and disappear into the leaves/Time and time again/I must remind myself/You can’t wait to be taught/Agency is real/You are not trivial.”  This opening verse and chorus certainly seems to point right to that psychological definition of agency.  This as the song’s subject seems to be examining himself/herself, realizing that he/she is asking himself/herself if they would take a risk in life, walk through those doors and do something different in life.
That consideration continues in the song’s second verse, in which the subject states, “Who is that bastard in the mirror/Can I believe what he says/Your eyes/Those windows/The glass won’t get any clearer/The longer you look/The harder it gets/To untangle the threads” before later reminding himself/herself, “You are a tangled web/Of experience and instinct/You take anything out of this/Agency is necessary.”  This is that reminder that even in the difficult thoughts, a person has so much inside them.  It is a reminder of empowerment.  Or at least that is, again, this critic’s interpretation.  If said interpretation is anywhere near being the case, then it certainly will lift up plenty of audiences, further showing the strength of the album’s lyrical themes.  When all of the examined lyrical content is considered collectively along with the rest of the album’s lyrical material, the whole makes fully clear, the importance thereof to the album’s presentation.
Rounding out the most important of The Great Fires’ elements is its production.  Every song featured in this record is so intense in its own way.  From the fiery opening of ‘Even in the Rain’ to the semi-nu-metal approach of ‘Pitchers’ to the intensity of ‘Wartime Softshoe’ to the noted doom-leaning ‘Agency (Is Necessary)’ to the somewhat experimental ‘David’ and more, each arrangement featured here boasts so much impact.  That is due to the time and effort put into balancing the vocal and instrumental performances in each composition.  The result thereof is nine songs whose aesthetic impact does just as much to engage and entertain listeners as the album’s content itself.  To that end, The Great Fires proves that much more a new addition to this year’s field of new independent albums that is worth hearing at least once.
The Great Fires, the latest album from Boarzoy, is an intriguing new addition to this year’s field of new independent records that deserves to be heard at least once.  That is proven in part through its featured musical body.  That is because the record’s featured arrangements present a sound and style that cannot be fully defined.  This is a very good thing for those who are open minded enough to appreciate such diversity.  The lyrical body of The Great Fires adds its own layer of engagement and entertainment.  That is due to the decidedly metaphorical language that is used throughout each song.  That language is certain to generate plenty of discussion among listeners.  The record’s production rounds out its most important elements.  It ensures listeners’ maintained engagement and entertainment because of the positive aesthetic impact that it has on the presentation.  Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the record.  All things considered they make The Great Fires a presentation that definitely holds its own so far among this year’s field of new independent albums.
The Great Fires is available now.  More information on the album is available along with all of Boarzoy’s latest news at:
Website: https://boarzoy.com
Facebook: Boarzoy