The Summer Of Merzbox:

Balor/SS1535 · July 30, 2025, 01:54:18 AM

Disc 32: Back to forward momentum once again. It is interesting to note, however, that a retrospective boxset also centers a series of releases in which Merzbow takes a retrospective view towards himself. While still holding on to some of the "industrial" sounds of earlier albums, there is more chaos and change that---when considered in conjunction with the compositional strategy used here---make this much more of a noise album for me.

Balor/SS1535 · July 31, 2025, 05:08:05 AM

Disc 33: Not too much to add here. Solid industrial Merzbow. Maybe the one thing that I can add (though I have been thinking it for a while now) is that the mastering for the Merzbox seems pretty flat? There are lows and highs, of course, but everything feels a bit too mellow sometimes.

Balor/SS1535 · August 02, 2025, 03:24:56 AM

Disc 34: This one sounds like my memories of the live in the Soviet Union disc. Improv-y, psych sounds. At the same time, it seems like some metal-ish sounds are creaping in. I wonder if Akita was listening to metal at this point, getting ready for the 90s? And what's up with the musical interlude? haha

Balor/SS1535 · August 02, 2025, 03:57:04 AM

Now to catch up with the schedule, so only a brief sampling...

Disc 35: Immediately harsher, and a fitting end to the 80s (finally)!

Cranial Blast · August 05, 2025, 03:58:49 AM

Not sure what this thread is about in regards to "summer" somehow I didn't catch that seasonal importance/notion if there even is one, however this summer I purchased a Merzbow CD that's been on my want list for quite some time, which was the Ecobondage the 1995 press by Distemper. It sounds a bit different to what I'm use to hearing from Merzbow, but still a good album. I like the cover art from this CD press back in 95.

Balor/SS1535 · August 05, 2025, 06:50:17 PM

Quote from: Cranial Blast on August 05, 2025, 03:58:49 AMNot sure what this thread is about in regards to "summer" somehow I didn't catch that seasonal importance/notion if there even is one, however this summer I purchased a Merzbow CD that's been on my want list for quite some time, which was the Ecobondage the 1995 press by Distemper. It sounds a bit different to what I'm use to hearing from Merzbow, but still a good album. I like the cover art from this CD press back in 95.

It's more of a thing on the Scream & Writhe forum than here, but the user Minus1 organized a summer listening challenge to go through the entire box---one CD per weekday. (I'm a bit behind at the moment!)

Balor/SS1535 · August 06, 2025, 12:52:11 AM

Disc 36: New decade, new gear. It sounds like he discovered distortion for the first time and then applied it to past sound strategies from the 1980s (thereby showing the compositional strenght of those albums as a basis for good harsh noise). I think Cloud Cock OO Grand is the only "classic" Merzbow album to make it into the Merzbox, and I wonder if that might have to do with the contemporaneous availability of the other 90s albums? Funnily enough, both the commentator in the Merzbook and Akita in his note both refer to this album's title as "Ground" rather than "Grand."

Balor/SS1535 · August 06, 2025, 05:26:46 AM

Disc 37: Now Merzbow is solidly in the territory of harsh! I like the story in the note about someone listening to this radio performance while in a cab. The discussion of Plato in the Merzbook seems at best problematic and at worst wrong---Plato made no room for noise in his philosophy!

Minus1 · August 07, 2025, 12:06:06 AM

Quote from: Cranial Blast on August 05, 2025, 03:58:49 AMNot sure what this thread is about in regards to "summer" somehow I didn't catch that seasonal importance/notion if there even is one, however this summer I purchased a Merzbow CD that's been on my want list for quite some time, which was the Ecobondage the 1995 press by Distemper. It sounds a bit different to what I'm use to hearing from Merzbow, but still a good album. I like the cover art from this CD press back in 95.

See post # 0.

Minus1 · August 07, 2025, 12:07:26 AM

Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on August 05, 2025, 06:50:17 PM
Quote from: Cranial Blast on August 05, 2025, 03:58:49 AMNot sure what this thread is about in regards to "summer" somehow I didn't catch that seasonal importance/notion if there even is one, however this summer I purchased a Merzbow CD that's been on my want list for quite some time, which was the Ecobondage the 1995 press by Distemper. It sounds a bit different to what I'm use to hearing from Merzbow, but still a good album. I like the cover art from this CD press back in 95.

It's more of a thing on the Scream & Writhe forum than here, but the user Minus1 organized a summer listening challenge to go through the entire box---one CD per weekday. (I'm a bit behind at the moment!)

You came up with the idea. I just ran with it. 😂

Balor/SS1535 · August 07, 2025, 01:22:12 AM

Quote from: Minus1 on August 07, 2025, 12:07:26 AM
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on August 05, 2025, 06:50:17 PM
Quote from: Cranial Blast on August 05, 2025, 03:58:49 AMNot sure what this thread is about in regards to "summer" somehow I didn't catch that seasonal importance/notion if there even is one, however this summer I purchased a Merzbow CD that's been on my want list for quite some time, which was the Ecobondage the 1995 press by Distemper. It sounds a bit different to what I'm use to hearing from Merzbow, but still a good album. I like the cover art from this CD press back in 95.

It's more of a thing on the Scream & Writhe forum than here, but the user Minus1 organized a summer listening challenge to go through the entire box---one CD per weekday. (I'm a bit behind at the moment!)

You came up with the idea. I just ran with it. 😂

My memory is not what it once was... ha

Cranial Blast · August 07, 2025, 01:41:15 AM

Quote from: Minus1 on August 07, 2025, 12:07:26 AM
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on August 05, 2025, 06:50:17 PM
Quote from: Cranial Blast on August 05, 2025, 03:58:49 AMNot sure what this thread is about in regards to "summer" somehow I didn't catch that seasonal importance/notion if there even is one, however this summer I purchased a Merzbow CD that's been on my want list for quite some time, which was the Ecobondage the 1995 press by Distemper. It sounds a bit different to what I'm use to hearing from Merzbow, but still a good album. I like the cover art from this CD press back in 95.

It's more of a thing on the Scream & Writhe forum than here, but the user Minus1 organized a summer listening challenge to go through the entire box---one CD per weekday. (I'm a bit behind at the moment!)

You came up with the idea. I just ran with it. 😂

Ahhh I see now! I should of checked post 0 closer. Makes sense now! Haha

Balor/SS1535 · August 07, 2025, 05:13:23 AM

Disc 38: Solidly in the noise camp now. The stand-out moment for me on this album, though, was the apparent "regression" back to the drumming on junk sounds for a passage of track 2. The new noise electronics really make that sound contemporary for this era of Merzbow.

Also, the description in the Merzbook has me confused again, as it lists both "Grand" and "Ground" as the title of disc 36!

Balor/SS1535 · Reply #73 - Re: The Summer Of Merzbox:

Disc 39: Track one is harsh and great, but I just cannot get into the loopy beat of the second half of the album. The fact that this one is composed of reworked material from the 80s demonstrates just how big of an evolution on Akita's sound resulted from his change in gear.