Avant-Garde » Sound Art » Noise

Sludgy, abrasive, and punishing, Noise is everything its name promises, expanding on the music's capacity for sonic assault while almost entirely rejecting the role of melody and songcraft. From the ear-splitting, teeth-rattling attack of Japan's Merzbow to the thick, grinding intensity of Amphetamine Reptile-label bands like Tar and Vertigo, it's dark, brutal music that pushes rock to its furthest extremes. By the end of the '90s, a resurgence in the use of sine waves -- originally explored by musique concrète artists in the '50s -- became increasingly frequent among noise artists such as Otomo Yoshihide.