Boards of Canada Return After 13 Years With ‘Inferno,’ and a Scathing Review

Boards of Canada have returned with their first album in 13 years. ‘Inferno’ is out now on Warp. The Guardian’s review of the record does not mince words, calling it “a big disappointment” and singling out weak drum programming alongside a clumsy interrogation of religion. For a duo whose influence seeped into cloud-rap, hauntology, and film soundtracks, the verdict lands heavily.

Brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin built a instantly recognizable world from decaying public television samples and thick, hip-hop-paced beats. On ‘Inferno,’ The Guardian argues, they feel overtaken by more agile electronic acts. The album’s spiritual themes come off as callow. ‘Father and Son’ chops voices of people in crisis into a light funk rhythm that the reviewer finds “excruciatingly unfunny.” ‘The Word Becomes Flesh’ reworks an old educational video into body-popping electro, a move described as a total Boards of Canada cliché. Hare Krishna chanting on ‘Naraka’ reads as either mockery or lazy orientalism, a charge that sticks when a sitar surfaces later on ‘Deep Time.’

Guitars do broaden the palette. ‘Prophecy at 1420 MHz’ nods to Mogwai, and ‘Somewhere Right Now in the Future’ floats as drumless dream pop. But The Guardian insists the real trouble is how dull much of the music is. ‘Into the Magic Land’ gestures toward Tortoise without any of that band’s swing. Even a moment of sharper critique, the demonic whisper of a Christian nationalist on ‘All Reason Departs,’ can’t pull the album out of its rut.

The group’s catalog once held real weight. This time, the critical reception suggests that weight has tipped into something static.