Search - Merzbow :: Age of 369 / Chant

Terrific Collection of Early Merzbow

J. Shell | 01/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Age of 369/Chant 2 is a double CD that takes us back to the world of Merzbow in 1984. Instead of the much harsher noise works of the 1990's, these recordings are more focused around cheap musique concrete elements, noise electronics, turntablism (a different technique than DJ record scratching), and tape loops. Outside of the 50CD "Merzbox" box set, there are few other easily attainable Merzbow recordings from this period in which most Merzbow albums were on limited cassette releases.Age of 369 is apparently from material intended to be part of the original 'Batztoutai...' vinyl release on RRRecords (later remixed and released on CD, which is still available), but was discarded. The recordings here are slow paced, atmospheric, full of groans and the occasional (but persistent when they appear) high pitches. Four tracks cover 61 minutes here.Chant 2 was previously released on cassette in the mid 80's. It's similar ground to Age of 369, but picks up the pace a little bit, and the overall sound seems to have a little more fidelity to it. The chirping modulations and distortion that mark much Merzbow's mid-1990's work is a little more present on this disc as well, but melded into the tape loops and other sounds instead of dominating them like they later would. The 'Chant 2' disc also features an extra track, 'Itomakiei', which starts of with distorted noise electronics and chirps before it falls into a maintained undercurrent of looped junk metal percussions mixed in with other tape loops.'Age of 369/Chant 2' should appeal to anyone interested in primitive electro-acoustic music, musique concrete, and to Merzbow fans interested in where the later Merzbow sound came from."