(Early) expectations for noise?

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Over the years, it has become clear that at least since "extreme music" was popular (say hardcore, death metal, etc), there were significant part of people who appear to approach noise at least early on their path from perspective of finding the most extreme stuff. I don't know if this was the case in times when notion of "extreme music" may have not been so prevailing? From Deicide to Merzbow Pulse Demon or from Napalm Death to Masonna seems kind of logical, but from Merciful Fate to M.B... heh.. Can happen, but feels less likely. From Extreme Noise Terror to Sutcliffe Jugend seems logical leap, but from Cock Sparrer to Smell & Quim.. hmm..

I often say I was personally exactly the kind of guy who was looking for the hardest stuff out there, but it ain't entire truth. I was also looking for weird, bizarre, strange. Something completely new. Of course purity of noise of Incapacitants, BLJ, Macronympha etc appealed, but at the same time biggest fan of weirdo stuff like Gerogerigegege, Violent Onsen Geisha, Emil Beaulieau, Smell & Quim and so on.

Of course, era on early 90's was golden years for discoveries, since genre was tight in a way that on same compilations you'd have from dark power electronics to slapstick weirdo noise or from harsh to psychedelic, from collage and concrete sounds to pure abstractions and so on. It seems expected that soon teenager realizes that screaming and distortion may not be the "hardest stuff", but there are other qualities that can make make music difficult, demanding, challenging yet ultimately rewarding.

Its been long time, but indeed, I would think my earliest expectations was to find the hardest things out there. It quickly shifted into need of finding things with unique "weirdness" and personality. Then shifting into finding items that radiate meaning of some sort. Now, what do I expect? Perhaps little bit of all of these! I do not expect someone doing noise in a way I have never heard, but its good if it would not be pure replication.

I was reading recently comment of person who mentioned having dropped out from noise for years after being disgusted by what types of people scene consists. I am less effected by social circles of noise, since its like in any situation in life. If you go to bar and see table full of bikers and skinheads and other table with art students.. you can choose. You don't need to hang out with absolutely everybody. Even the empty table somewhere in corner and maybe some other dude you get along might show up eventually. Back in the day, I wasn't very impressed by the art-school type of "funny hats noise" kind of stuff. Costume noise, where noise often served the "look I'm weird!" -approach. I know many feel the same when dude with edgy band t-shirt goes on stage and starts yelling on mic, hah. But I barely have expectation what this should be nor feel excluded it if is something unlike I would be doing or favoring. Expectation for live gigs is only that I prefer people doing it and hopefully in ways that it is visually detectable that you see them creating the noise. I am fully aware that playback of piece, presentation, almost related to screening of film, is totally acceptable way of doing things - but when I go to see live noise, I expect live noise, hah! That might be one of the current day expectation for noise!

[FreakAnimalFinland]

And perhaps as addition, examples that I absolutely don't hope topic to be "expectations that failed", but more other way round, hah! Like, thinking for years, what if something totally weird, like... KEUHKOT would become noisier, harder,... and then you get Sick Seed. Which, of course ain't like "Keuhkot", but when you think about it, there is the song oriented feel, sometimes narrative or hysteric lyrical side to it. In a way, something I would hoped to exists, but didn't expect anyone doing it.

[SSRI]

Instead of metal or punk*, I came to noise from a background of alternative rock, prog, classic rock, krautrock, fucking EBM and more proper musical industrial like Einstürzende Neubauten. So I wasn't looking for something more extreme in the sense of being "harder" than the hardest metal, but extreme in abstractness, emphasis on texture and lack of structure. That's what I expected from noise and wasn't disappointed.

*) For the record, I did listen to some mainstream metal and also started buying some punk and even grind 7"s in my teens but didn't get much out of them. I got into underground black metal later, but that came slightly after noise.

[The Devil´s Cormorant]

My first encounter with noise definitely came through the search for more and more extreme stuff, particularly from the angle of black metal. Within black metal I was always interested in the harsher soundscapes like Ildjarn and coarse lo-fi demo sounds (and always disappointed when the studio albums of the same bands were much more polished) or on the other hand something murky like Paysage d'Hiver. I remember coming across Merzbow, possibly something else too, and honestly, I just wasn't impressed. Sure, it was extreme, but it was also kinda boring; it didn't carry any of the spirit so captivating in black metal. Simply "being extreme" wasn't actually that interesting.

So for the longest time noise remained this "peculiar but kinda boring" genre for me. It was many years later when I came to actually like noise and find something intriguing within it, and at that time I suppose I approached it more from the angle of dark ambient and other experimental music. In a way noise appeared similar as that kind of music void of many of those common elements of conventional music - rhythm, melody, familiar instruments - just with a more-or-less harsher soundscape. And it still holds true that simply sounding hard and aggressive doesn't do much. It's often very particular sounds that speak to me, and also that music isn't "just music", just sound, but there's a strong emphasis on what the music is about, what it's conveying, what kind of themes, aesthetics, emotions etc. I also find the general attitude how noise is made, the experimental and DIY nature inherent to it, very appealing

[Cantleman]

My intro was the old Terroriser magazine in the mid 90s doing a feature on Whitehouse, it also led me to Cold Meat Industries. That and a sense of curiosity and wanting 'more'....

[Cranial Blast]

Definitely from black metal, bands like Ride For Revenge were great at opening the gates towards more noisy territory. That type of crossover makes getting into power electronics/noise, feel like a logical conclusion in some ways. Often that crossover generally seems to bring together the most extremes of both sides, from some of the hardest black metal stuff and right away to over to the Filth & Violence type stuff. The interesting part for me with this crossover was that it brought me to the nastiest stuff immediately, but because of that and growing interest in noise, then allowed me to expand my noise interests a lot more broader and that open the door to various types of noise artists and sub genre with industrial/noise genre. I wonder if there is a reverse, noise guy getting into metal and then learning later how he'd missed out on Mercyful Fate haha.