Merzbow
Venereology

LA RECENSIONE

One of the main characteristics of our era is that there is almost nothing left to invent, something completely innovative. In philosophy, we might talk about the sterility of postmodernism, which is the awareness that everything has already been said, done, conceived, experimented with. In music, this has been known for a long time, it is undeniable, it is not creativity that is lacking (or at least not only that), but the very possibility of innovation seems to be an increasingly inconsistent concept.

Perhaps it is in the Noise genre itself that something seems to survive, an universe not yet fully explored.

And so we come to Masami Akita, aka Merzbow, undoubtedly a reference point in the genre, more specifically to "Venereology", one of the most extreme works in his vast discography.

Merzbow deconstructs the concept of sound, in addition to the concept of music; what we witness is something unsettling, at the antipodes of song form, easy listening, or any other scheme or preconception one might impose on themselves (deliberately caustic... one certainly does it) in judging a musical composition.

In the opening track "Ananga-Ranga", after a hammering start, one is immersed in a profound set of white noise, phaser distortions, choked whistles, which persist relentlessly for almost half an hour, no point of reference, no foothold, and needless to say, no melodic or rhythmic concession, maintaining throughout its length that tension and that disarming sonic schizophrenia.

It continues with "Klo Ken Phantasie" with its hinted introduction over compressed bass, gradually submerged by shrill feedback-like sounds, which insist throughout the track in the most total epileptic mix.

A leitmotif that continues in "I Lead You Towards Glorious Times" which seems the natural continuation of the previous track, but it is instead a live excerpt (Yaneura, Feb 4, 1994), the increase in volume and the marked sonic intensity confirm it; while unsoundable vocal parts are added, inserted into the latent substrate of glassy and unstable sounds.

The album concludes with "Slave New Desart" in which there is a semblance of an intro, lasting just enough to see this hope dashed: relentless walls of noise return, violent and explosive. Whistles, diabolical laughter come in, interspersed with stops and unpredictable samples and rhythmically marked, as at the beginning of the track, by distorted percussion.

The type of sound created overall is undoubtedly considerable, pure noise where Merzbow makes no foreign concessions, like electronics in the famous Merzbird, not here, only pure Japanese noise; undoubtedly an album well representative of its genre.

As written above, it can be the starting point through which to transfigure our conception of music, to go beyond, into unexplored territories, as much as is still possible today. I remind you that the album in question is from 1994, perhaps even Noise is slowly falling into the "already heard" although it might seem incredible.

Obviously, one needs to make an extra effort, it is necessary to understand the concept of Noise, to abstract the musical limit, in particular, to understand its innovative potential.