Merzbow – Aqua Necromancer (alien8 recordings) 2004
Merzbow is all I’m listening to at the moment. This can not be healthy. For some reason that Merzzow record really hit a chord with me and I’ve done the whole obesessive rock-nerd thing and tracked down as much of his back catalogue as I can hide from my partner. The first batch to arrive are from those very nice Canadian people at alien8 recordings. Their package containing Aqua Necromancer, Door Opens at 8pm, Collapse 12 Floors and Animal Magnetism arrived on Tuesday. I’ll get to the others in due course but I’ve decided to start with Aqua Necromancer for no particular reason but to stress the fact that Merzbow is no one trick pony.
Aqua Necromancer is Merzbow’s tribute to prog-rock. Think Soft machine being flogged with electronic squall. Think big fat psychedelic grooves under a blanket of fuckery. Think drums, groove and beat. Think of a prog rock concert in hell. This my friends is simply an extraordinary record. Part of my previous apprehension in approaching Merzbow was my belief that I didn’t really need much of this in my life. I though that once I’d heard one Merzbow record I’d pretty much have heard them all. How fucking wrong I was on that one. There is an inherent playfulness in all of his records when you commit yourself to the experience. This is the Merzbow record you introduce your rock nerd friends to. If they don’t get it you can point out that the fourth track in particular could be John Zorn playing with John Weise. Every rock nerd admits to liking Zorn so you’ll be on solid ground.
On the weekend someone typed in a search engine “merzbow good place to start” and were directed to this blog. If that person comes back I’d just like to say THIS IS WHERE TO START. If you can’t get into Aqua Necromancer the rest of his back catalogue is going to be a bumpy ride.
Ducks Battle Satan 
November 26, 2008 at 11:53 am
I agree, this is a good place as any to start with Merzbow. It’s a cracking album regardless of whether you’re using it as a stepping stone to more Merzbow or whether you’re a seasoned veteran.
(I personally took the slightly (some may say “very”) more difficult route by starting out with, I think, “Pulse Demon” and only listened to this album quite recently. It is quite, quite good.)
Love your blog, by the way!
December 5, 2008 at 10:20 am
Cheers for that azzief. I’m glad you like the blog. The other Merzbow records released on alien8 records should be tracked down immediately. Doors Open and Animal Magnetism are excellent examples of easier listening Merzbow. If you hear the, let me know what you think.