History Music / Merzbow

* SomethingBlues: The track title "Ultra Marine Blues", though [[CaptainObvious it doesn't sound anything like any blues you're familiar with.]]

** LighterAndSofter: A portion of this work is this to the rest of his work. He's done occasional ambient works, which are basically a 1 or 2 compared to his usual 11+ on the MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness. His collaborations with other artists could also be considered to qualify; he still does his usual harsh noise thing, but since it's underpinned by works with more traditional musical qualities it's still more accessible, making it usually reside in the 6-9 range. Finally, live, while still mind-fuckingly loud, he's not quite as harsh as he is in the studio. His collaborations with Music/{{Boris}} may be a nice place to start with him for people who are afraid of tackling his more typical works; these works generally run the gamut from 1-9 or so on the aforementioned MohsScale (most of "Headronefish" and the intro/outro to "Sun Baked Snow Cave" are both 1, for example).

* [[SensoryAbuse SENSORY ABUSE]]: One of the masters.

* OlderThanTheyLook: [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7NXz9LTDw_M/UVXCwGLTMzI/AAAAAAAAAcM/pjRGIkc1_ZE/s1600/merz.jpg This good looking nerdy guy]] who appears to be in his mid-late 30s is in fact a 56-year old man.

YouHaveBeenWarned. If you really, REALLY, '''REALLY''', '''''REALLY''''' want to take a shot at his music, then [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGqzaPzrQG8 go ahead and listen]]. Just pray that your eardrums won't get blown off in the process.

* ContemptibleCover: Most of the ''Pornoise'' releases have... well, [[ShapedLikeItself pornographic album covers]], but it's a sort of {{justified|Trope}} or {{invoked|Trope}} example given the project's name.

As of the present time, Merzbow has released over 350 studio recordings.

* ContemptibleCover: ''Pornoise'' has... well, [[ShapedLikeItself an actual pornographic drawing of people having sex]] as its cover, but it's a sort of {{justified|Trope}} or {{invoked|Trope}} example given the album title.

* DreamTeam: Often collaborates with other artists, with Music/{{Boris}}, Music/SunnO, Xiu Xiu, and Full of Hell being notable examples.

* ContemptibleCover: ''Pornoise'' has... well, [[ShapedLikeItself an actual pornographic drawing of people having sex]] as its cover, but it's a sort of {{justified|Trope}} or {{invoked|Troke}} example given the album title.

* SiameseTwinSongs: On some of his releases, as much as they can even be considered "songs". ''Pulse Demon'' is basically a solid wall of noise with track divisions inserted more or less arbitrarily.

* StylisticSuck: He has ''actual musical talent''. Yes, really, he can make traditional music if he so desires; it only happens that he makes mind-fucking HarshNoise because that's what he enjoys the most.

** HarshNoise: He is the TropeCodifier and [[Pantheon/{{Music}} god.]]

Masami Akita, better known as Merzbow, is a Japanese ElectronicMusic artist and composer, as well as a book writer and editor for various publications.

He was born in Tokyo in 1956. During his youth, he listened to psychedelic rock, progressive rock and free jazz, all of which influenced his musical style. He has been the drummer for various rock bands during his high school years, but began his musical career as an experimental rock artist with his high school friend Kiyoshi Mizutani.

TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merzbow_discography has a comprehensive list of his known works]].

** LighterAndSofter: A portion of this work is this to the rest of his work. He's done occasional ambient works, which are basically a 1 or 2 compared to his usual 11+ on the MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness. His collaborations with other artists could also be considered to qualify; he still does his usual harsh noise thing, but since it's as backing to work with more musical qualities it's still more accessible, making it usually reside in the 6-9 range. Finally, live, while still mind-fuckingly loud, he's not quite as harsh as he is in the studio. His collaborations with Music/{{Boris}} may be a nice place to start with him for people who are afraid of tackling his other works; these works generally run the gamut from 1-9 or so on the aforementioned MohsScale (most of "Headronefish" and the intro/outro to "Sun Baked Snow Cave" are both 1, for example).

** In a rather extreme example of [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzagging]] this trope, he has not just produced some of the clearest albums on record, but he has also recorded the ''two most horribly brickwalled'' albums ever produced: ''Pulse Demon'' and ''Venereology'', the latter having a dynamic range of '''''zero''''', gain values in ''the negative twenties'' and containing the loudest track ever put to compact disc: "I Lead You Towards Glorious Times".

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: A lot of his works, ever since the early 2000s, have had 'limited' or 'deluxe' versions available to purchase at [[CrackIsCheaper quite]] a high price, and [[NoExportForYou run of most likely a thousand (or hundred) copies]]. It starts out simple; extra discs containing mixed material, vinyl stickers and maybe postcards/collages of his. But then you get to the absurd stuff including hand-cast metal medallions (Merzbient) and ''swiss army knives'' (Kibako). Most likely they are packaged in either tote bags or elaborate boxes which can be plastic, wooden or even bamboo.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: A lot of his works, since the early 2000s, have had 'limited' or 'deluxe' versions available to purchase (at most likely a [[CrackIsCheaper high price]], and [[NoExportForYou run of a thousand (or hundred) copies]]. It starts out simple; extra discs containing mixed material, vinyl stickers and maybe postcards/collages of his. But then you get to the absurd stuff including hand-cast metal medallions (Merzbient) and ''swiss army knives'' (Kibako). Most likely they are packaged in either tote bags or elaborate boxes which can be plastic, wooden or even bamboo.

He later attended Tamagawa University to study fine art, at which he majored in painting and art theory. During this time, he developed an interest in {{Dada}}, {{Postmodernism}} and {{surrealism}}, eventually learning about Kurt Schwitters' ''Merz'', or art made from rubbish, including the installation "Merzbau", which became the source of his stage name.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to his extensive music catalog, no complete discography of him exists; those that are known to be made by him, however, are exceedingly rare. Some diehard fans of underground ElectronicMusic have resorted to piracy to acquire his material.

** HarshNoise: He is the TropeCodifier.

[[YMMV/{{Merzbow}} YMMV page here.]]

!Tropes applying to Merzbow

He later attended Tamagawa University to study fine art, at which he majored in painting and art theory. During this time, he developed an interest in {{Dada}}, {{Postmodernism}} and {{surrealism}}, eventually learning about Kurt Schwitters' ''Merz'', or art made from rubbish, including the artwork "Merzbau", which became the source of his stage name.