Style: Progressive metal, progressive rock, sludge metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Elder, Baroness, Mastodon, Kylesa
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 23 October 2026

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Sludge draped in a velvety-smooth coating; the discography of United Kingdom’s Boss Keloid has satisfied like an IPA on a brisk fall afternoon. Their brand of progressive sludge rock/metal has infused seismic down-tuned riffs with gentle, tangential melodies alongside vocalist Alex Hurst’s perfectly fitting gruff timbre. While the rich-texures of 2018’s Melted on the Inch offered a plethora of gargantuan licks, 2021’s Family the Smiling Thrush found Boss Keloid experimenting with increasingly off-kilter riffs and oddly-timed interplay between Hurst and Paul Swarbrick’s guitar phrases. Though still providing enough meat on the bone, this change in direction between albums reduced the overall charm of Family the Smiling Thrush. Surely they are ready to lean back into their sludge roots to appeal to an old grump like me right? RIGHT!?

It turns out Boss Keloid have no concern for my needs, as the thick sludgy licks of Melted on the Inch are largely absent on Float & Aperture. In their place, are meandering melodic guitar phrases that drift along aimlessly for the majority of the hour-long borefest (ugh, that hurt to write). While Boss Keloid have clearly taken a more progressive and experimental approach to their song-writing, the prog pendulum has swung too far. Not only have they dropped their characteristic sludgy stomp, but have sacrificed their instrumental cohesion in the process. It seems that their song-writing strategy for Float & Aperture was to isolate Hurst and Swarbrick in separate, sound-proofed rooms and have them write/record the tracks without knowledge of what the other is doing. Each song contains prolonged sections of disjointed and poorly coordinated guitar passages with a half-baked, stumbling melody from one side and a sleepy distorted rhythm from the other.

Another frustrating aspect of Float & Aperture is its excessive and unjustified length. With enough bloat to support the ocean-floating concrete structure on the album’s cover, Float & Aperture is a chore to get through. Apart from the disjointed guitar wanderings, the entire album continues along at the same mid-tempo’d pace. Rather than feeling like a cool beer on an autumn afternoon, this version of Boss Keloid comes across as a flat, warm brew on a scalding summer day. With each of the first five tracks clocking in between seven and ten-minutes in length, I often found my attention wandering, rejoining minutes later amidst the same rudderless passage when coming to, immediately thinking: “this song is still going?”.  While Boss Keloid would punctuate their odd-melodic sections with powerful sludge metal climaxes in previous releases, there are very few sonic peaks that draw listeners in on Float & Aperture. Brief glimpses of Hurst and Swarbrick’s unified swagger appear like the closing section of “Aros”, though these whiffs of intrigue are few and far between.

Hurst’s soulful vocal tone remains the center of Boss Keloid’s sonic character, though lacks the dynamics or emotional affect to consistently remain connected to listeners across Float & Aperture. His strength in previous releases was elevating the powerful punch of Boss Keloid’s seismic riffs, though in Float & Aperture Hurst’s voice is deprived of these massive rhythmic sections. As a result, his performance idles along just like the instrumentals, lacking any lasting impact. Though Liam Pendlebury-Green’s bass remains audible throughout the album, he seems unsure of which guitar line to grasp onto, ultimately walking a line in between the uncoordinated performances in an uncomfortable manner. Lastly, Ste Arands’ drumming performance is largely down-the-middle, rarely taking any risks or making his presence felt underneath the strings.

Ultimately, Float & Aperture is quite a let-down, as Boss Keloid have largely shed their rich sludgy trademark in the sake of progressive experimentation. Overrun with aimless and disconnected guitar phrases throughout its excessive run-time, Float & Aperture will likely drift from my memory as there’s very little intrigue to call me back. But hey, the weather’s nice and IPAs still exist, so it’s not a total loss.

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Recommended tracks: Landslide, Aros, Sanguine
You may also like: Intronaut, Dvne, Anciients, Businessman
Final verdict: 4/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Church Road Records

Boss Keloid is:
– Ste Arands (drums and percussion)
– Paul Swarbrick (guitar)
– Alex Hurst (vocals and guitar)
– Liam Pendlebury-Green (bass)