Merzbow - Noisembryo
(Hospital Productions)

It's 2018 and I'm at the point where I find a review of any Merzbow record to be somewhat redundant. You see his name and can judge pretty quick whether you are in or not. If you have no idea what a Merzbow even is you've probably been living under a rock. This lavishly packaged reissue of Noisembryo (originally released in 1994 on CD by the Swedish label The Releasing Eskimo), deserves your attention. I didn't honestly know about it until this Hospital Productions reissue came out. Noisembryohits the right sweet spots I want in a Merzbow record. This record is all harsh, completely punishing, dense, cataclysmic and totally unrelenting. It's also an interesting recording in the context of some of the sound sources used including drum machine and Masami's own voice. His tortured screams and primitive moans pop up throughout the record seamlessly blending into hot distorted feedback. The crispiness of the recording and the superb mastering job also keep the prolonged sonic assault of Noisembryo engaging. It just keeps getting more and more intense, swirling between classic feedback manipulation, to cut-up/glitch sounds, pulverizing walls with white hot hiss's. Overall it's a superb record by Merzbow. I’d say it's as crucial as his Venereology LP or the Gore Beyong Necropsy collaboration. A good starting point! (VII)
Check out a track here.