Various Artists — Noise Forest

Merzbow was probably 90% of the world's introduction to harsh noise, so it's only fitting that his track is the first on the collection. "Travelling" is classic Merzbow, a track that will make any traveller feel instantly at home. Mixing trademark harshness, sweeping distortion, and vibrant feedback, Merzbow quickly moves from his hypnotizing intro into full on assault. This is an absolute gem of a track and a perfect snapshot of this amazing period in both noise history and Merzbow's career. Well known spacey collective C.C.C.C. takes the second track with "IMR-32." Appearing as Chaotic Custom Cock Commandos, this early work in their career is a bit more restrained than the later pieces, but still pulsing with cosmic energy. While they may have had their start with sexualized beginnings, the interstellar, spacey electronics are certainly on display here. Masahiko Ohna's Solmania doesn't ring as many bells with people as it should, but this long running project is a cornerstone of Japanese noise and a highly underrated act. From the earlier period while still solo, "Derrick Master Switchback" features Ohna's guitar driven noise that bounces between harsh and somewhat psychedelic, capturing the artist's intent with purpose and leading the listener through a slow and deliberate maze of noise. Admittedly, I had never heard of Dislocation before this release, but their entry here is a collection of live performances. Mixing guitars, sax, and other electronics, their work sounds very engaging, although the recording is a bit too distant and garbled to be that enjoyable. Monde Bruits brings the cut up harshness back with "Continuum," which was taking the genre in new directions. Slicing and dicing, this track showcases Iwasaki's skill with his gear, stopping on a dime and leaving clean spaces of silence to help punctuate his screeching distortion. Followed by the chaotic noisemaster general, "Testicles Candy 1-13" showcases the blistering knob turning and vicious vocals of Masonna. This is textbook Masonna here, with his wild vocals and fast and furious noise on unabashed display. Plus, with a name like "Testicles Candy," what's not to love? Violent Onsen Geisha is the outlier on the compilation, with just over half of their track being soft, weirdo acoustics. Jaunty guitars and strange vocals lure the listener in with their familiar feelings and comfortability before dropping the noise hammer and going full on crunch. The last three minutes are vocally driven distorted crunch, not too far removed from Masonna, which makes sense as to why they shared a split on RRR. A bit more miss than hit, this is still a really nice piece to show the scene's diversity. Closing out with "Automatic Loss Cut" by Incapacitants, we're once again treated to legends doing their thing. Mikawa and Kosakai manning their tables, teaming up to tear signals asunder will always be a thing of beauty, despite the chaos and screeches that emit from the speakers. Harsh and dense, this is Incapacitants as you would expect them and perfectly as loud as you would want them...As Loud As Possible!

 

Bringing a hard to find classic compilation to the light, Cold Spring's release of Noise Forest captures a moment in time that many of us never got to experience. Before noise was strongly marketed to extreme metalheads through Relapse/Release, many of the Japanese noise scene's heavy hitters were represented on this compilation, showing that there was a growing desire to tune in to something different. Even today, if one were to see just half of these acts on a compilation, it would be a must buy, so having these eight pieces from this classic period in Japanese noise is a treat beyond words.