No, it was not about that really.
Like I probably said several times, since early 00's, none of my work is purely analogue. I was never analogue purist, and if you listen to my noise from mid 90's, you'll hear teenager getting hard on with (then fairly new) digital guitar multi-efx unit. Haha.
what I meant, is easily audible by listening handful of old noise items, and handful of new noise items. When there was no "noise gear", and nobody really knew how other people did their stuff, and there simply was not access for stuff, there was often something utterly unique in terms of ... hmmm... Timbre? The color of the sound, the character, that has very little to do with composition, gear of sound creation, and more about process of recording.
Lets have examples, early Ramirez. Man did some of utterly magnificent harsh noise recordings with his grandmothers stereo set-up. some sort of tape-deck-turntable-tuner type of package deal, and he'd just hit rec on tape deck and you just can not replicate this sound.
The Haters works of old times. Man is using scrap metal, broken glass, sampled car crashes, etc, anything anyone can do, but pretty much nobody sounds like The Haters. Never.
You got entire genre of power electronics, with to this date, nobody sounding like Sutcliffe Jugend. Sure, there are bands with vocals, feedback and rugged keyboard tones. But that ain't the SOUND, the timbre of SJ. I have listened every band ever praised to sound like old SJ, and I can tell, nobody sounds like it. I am not saying it would be impossible to sound like it, but first of all, there is no reason really, but also I am fairly confident many have no idea what is the element that makes bands sound like that.
Now, in digital era, of course bands can sound different. There is no question about it. But the fact remains, especially among people who are clueless about gear and who are just victims of having to settle on what is commonly available, commonly known to be "recording method", that you will end up with power electronics, that may have nice synth modulations, may have unusual theme, even somewhat personal angle on the songs, but then.... In the end, we have the situation as we have in almost any music today.
New art music of symphonic orchestra will sound ... just like it does.
New metal music, that is known as "well produced", will sound basically the same, despite different music, you got the timbre and pallette that is what you get when you are recording on compiters, line-in, state of mind how music production of 2022 is.
I know some will say that you can do different things on computer. I know, and that's what is the frustrating part of it. We know it can be done, but just about 9/10 promo recordings I receive sound like what I described before.
As clear example, look for Emil Beauliea "Memories" CD. Play Shimpfluch track. My most loved modular synth patterns are there. But they key is not only the synth and it's patch, but the timbre, the color of sound of recording. I have searched if there would be something like that, and only one I have ever heard, during decades of search, is fairly recently Kartio 2x tape that comes a bit close. Using modulars, but having excellent production what escapes this feeling as if you are not listening to piece of art, but someones synth tutorial video. The finest detail what often seems impossible to explain. I set next to a guy, explaon what is totally unbearable in some recording, and in bizarre way, in genre so focused on SOUND and its microscopic qualities, one you talk to doesn't hear the thing you talk about. They hear it in ways of riffs, drum beats, melody patterns, synth oscillations etc... but not in the fine detail what is purely the SOUND itself what is most of all recording method.
This doesn't mean it has to be lo-fi or rugged. One can listen Whitehouse "New Britain" for example. I consider it high fidelity. Brilliant, fierce, and very very very hard to mimic, despite it seeminly would need wasp synth and vocals. There is this other quality, that often is understood more in noise, than in contemporary PE. I think.
