SOFT WATER CANNIBALS
Originally released in 1998, Tauromachine was Merzbow's third and final solo album for Release Entertainment, the Relapse Records sub label that almost single-handedly introduced the US to the wonders of Japanese harsh noise. After the death metal inspired violence of Venereology and the relentless extremity of Pulse Demon, Merzbow opted to for a more psychedelic approach, creating what is arguably one of his most accessible albums.
After having been out of print for many years, Relapse has finally seen the light and reissued Tauromachine with a fresh remaster courtesy of James Plotkin (Khanate OLD, Namanax, etc.), as well as a second disc's worth of previously unreleased bonus tracks. To say that it's an embarrassment of noisy riches would be an understatement.
To these ears, Tauromachine is stylistically somewhat akin to 1997's equally classic Hybrid Noisebloom in its embrace of spacey psychedelia over brain-battering harshness, but what ultimately sets it apart from other Merzbow albums from this period is its constantly mutating, bass-heavy rhythmic pulse, which makes one wonder if this is what dance music sounds like in hell. Although not as sonically complex as some of his other nineties works, Tauromachine's simplicity works in its favor, acting as a welcome comedown after the all-out assaults of Venereology and Pulse Demon.
Of course, accessible is a relative term when it comes to harsh noise; any average Joe that hears this is still going to run away screaming in terror, but the album could easily work as a gateway into the genre for more adventurous listeners. Whatever the case, Merzbow's Relapse trilogy ranks highly amongst the most influential works in the harsh noise canon and Tauromachine is a fitting coda to four years of total ear destruction from the Japanese God of Noise.
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