Boris

Breaking from a decade’s worth of precedent, in recent years the Japanese metal group Boris has stopped sounding like they’re trying to scare off listeners. Sure, the group still uses as a foundation thick, droning progressive metal with ample whiffs of The Melvins and Tool, but they’ve cut back on the epic bouts of noise and the flatly intoned (or viciously screamed) vocals. Their 2006 disc Pink hinted at the change, incorporating lush, shoegazing tones, but it’s their newest record, Smile, that runs with it, embracing melody and abandoning their once instrumental-heavy ways in favor of a newfound emphasis on vocals. See if they’ve softened their live show, too, when they play the Turner Hall Ballroom tonight at 8 p.m.