I decided

to destroy

all

conventional music.

- Masami Akita

Merzbow by Kookaburra Concert Photo

*Chicago, May 22, 2025*

Masami Akita’s work as Merzbow looms over all avant-garde, noise and heavy music like a dark cloud. Since 1979, the Tokyo-based sound artist’s fusion of industrial fervor and playfully Dadaist chaos across hundreds of releases has done more than pioneer harsh noise music — it has made him nearly synonymous with the genre. However, that famous reputation never quite conveys the actual thrill of sinking into a Merzbow album and absorbing its extreme contours, spiking peaks and layered valleys. It’s a feeling familiar to any fan, in a discography so deep and varied that no one ever explores it the same way. Merzbow’s new album Sedonis is an airy, ominous highlight and an essential release for both longtime listeners and those taking their tentative first steps into Akita’s boiling ocean of sound.

Sedonis caps one of the most exciting recent periods in Merzbow’s career, growing from the same set-up of computer, modular electronics and homemade instruments that produced the startlingly atmospheric Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance album series. It sparks to life on “Sedonis A” with propulsive drum machines and Akita’s prickling homemade guitar-string koto, played with a violin bow. The Penderecki-like strings melt into a nearly Hendrix haze at the start of “Sedonis B” building a crushing bridge to the centerpiece “Sedonis C.” The searing track brings to mind releases such as Dust of Dreams’ hazy percussion loops or the pulsing, jazz-influenced Door Open At 8AM, before igniting in a finale that achieves the same rippling funhouse terror as Aaron Dilloway’s Modern Jester. The three-part piece is paired with the 16-minute closer “Monolith 4”, which forms a spacious, burned expanse in contrast.

Akita explains that the title “Sedonis” didn’t have a particular meaning, but the word came to him in the aftermath of recording the album. “In terms of imagery, I was thinking of something similar to Barunga, the balloon monster from Ultra Q,” he explains, describing the classic ‘60s Ultraman kaiju. “A cloud-like form floating in the sky or outer space, with tendrils or tentacles — that kind of presence.” The music impressionistically conveys its inspiration at a kaiju-sized scale, while bringing to mind a modern day contemporary of Barunga— Jordan Peele’s terrifying, yet eerily beautiful creature from Nope. Similarly, Sedonis never stops unfolding into hypnotic new forms, while achieving a spectral, sinister atmosphere that feels utterly unique to Merzbow in 2025.

All Music by Masami Akita
Recorded & Mixed at Munemihouse, Tokyo July 2024

Mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering
Vinyl cut by Greg Ovis at Chicago Mastering Service
Graphic design by Joe Gilmore

Product photos by Marcus Fischer

Release June 27, 2025

Product photos by Marcus Fischer

Designed in the UK. Printed and hand‑assembled in Chicago.

Packaged in double sleeves with matching die‑cut windows. The outer jacket is thick ultrawhite eggshell card, printed in silver and letter‑pressed in black on a vintage Heidelberg cylinder press. A high‑gloss inner sleeve houses a solid 140 g 12‑inch record and frames its centre label.

Now Available on Bandcamp

About the Misprint on the Back Cover

We’d like to inform you that the back cover contains a minor printing error: it incorrectly lists two tracks on Side B. In fact, Side B contains only Track 4. Tracks 1 through 3 appear correctly on Side A, and the playback sequence is exactly as intended. This will be corrected in the next pressing. In the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy this first edition — a quiet flaw that makes the initial 300 copies just a little more special. As a small gesture, Bandcamp orders will include a few stickers and a copy of the Tokyo showcase poster — while supplies last. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

**About the Misprint on the Back Cover**

About the Misprint on the Back Cover