Sedonis is a searing new release from noise icon Merzbow and Chicago’s Signal Is Noise label, blending his signature chaos—overdriven electronics, handmade instruments, and relentless textures—with the label’s sharp visual identity. At nearly 70, Merzbow remains uncompromising, delivering an immersive, punishing sonic experience that continues to push the boundaries of sound.
A brutal, immersive surge of noise
Merzbow is well known for his intense frontier breaking lo-fi audio experiences, improvising with electronic stuff turned way way beyond eleven, sometimes using a prickling homemade guitar-string koto, played with a violin bow, or his hazy percussion loops, and some kind of creatively over-extended or damaged electronic stuff that makes sound, and other homemade instruments, propulsive drum machines, pulsing, jazz-influenced spaciousness, extended burned spectrality, sinister atmospheric expanses standing in harsh contrast to everything else.
The release of Sedonis marks a convergence of Merzbow’s uncompromising sonic force and the label’s curatorial ethos, with visuals shaped by designer Joe Gilmore’s stark typography and restrained palette. The project further establishes Signal Is Noise’s vision for a globally connected roster united by a clear, deliberate visual and sonic identity.
I think it was in the 1980s when I heard Merzbow for the first time. He is still a young fellow, about my age, and has somehow forever redefined the boundaries of music, usually without spending money on fancy stuff. He brought me to consider the question, do you like noise, and how hot can you take it? This cultivated listening experience is a famous artistic excruciation, vital and uncompromising. Pitchfork on Jul 1, 2025 reports that as he nears 70, he is as relentless, precise, and powerful as he has ever been. Perhaps the title Sedonis is a variant of the Greek personal name Adonis, a beautiful youth in Mediterranean mythology. Word is that the title came to Merzbow in the aftermath of recording the album.
Spiking peaks and layered valleys ::
Sedonis is a full-length album from Chicago sound art label Signal Is Noise. I like to imagine the floating, balloon-like monster itself, which has tendrils and a cloud-like form, and is as trapped as we all are with computers and modular electronics, fighting back using handmade instruments, and atmospheric noise. But that would be understating the experience of surviving the actual sonic event. The sound is aggressive and impervious, feel free to scream along or I tend to just writhe about. This is an opportunity to take in a thrilling glimpse of these expansive, unrelenting, and meticulously layered tracks, with extreme contours, spiking peaks and layered valleys. Try as you might there is no escaping avant-garde noise and heavy music like a dark cloud, a fusion of industrial fervor and playfully Dadaist chaos, an airy, ominous highlight plunging you into a boiling ocean of sound.
Let’s get started. “Sedonis A” (5:04) kicks us off with furious demons tearing at my face and skull, extreme scratchy echoey bowed strings and maybe a machine running and humming steadily, then comes the storm, the sound of pain, the first storm. The bow screeches and pain flows, reaching in through my eyeballs and just squeezing. Now the intensity continues and there is no mercy. Turn it up.
Our second challenge is a bit more roomy in places, not so crowded but that goes away too. I call this a bit more relaxed chaos, electronic static and reverberating sprays of tones, “Sedonis B” (4:48) is just as difficult but in a new way, layers of signals and hallucinations, the activity is frisky and then prepare for an abrupt stop, followed by opening a new sound of chaos. This time that crazy monster is chasing me and snapping at my behind as I fight to stay ahead somehow, burning jaws with violent eyes and persistent intensity.
“Sedonis C” (10:32) leads with classic microphone feedback ringing pain, the more you listen the more textures are constantly moving. Imagining the activity in the studio, this is a very active performance artform, getting all those difficult noises to go off and to keep the whole thing solid up to the end which has usually come to an abrupt cold stop. Out here I am free, amidst the screaming electronic noises sometimes overmodulated or just turned up all the way, the magnificent stuttering textures and wandering terror linger longer. Try to endure, the sensation is sustained but there is nothing constant here; it’s pure chaos, sensations unending and constantly changing with new stuff visiting and altering the pattern again, screaming and not stopping. This is not the longest track on the album.
Halls of metal sheets being banged ::
I know that we are not going to make it through this artistic experience unscarred, constant listener. “Monolith 4” (16:55) is the most enduring episode here, suddenly the overblown sound is gone and there are halls of metal sheets being banged, there is a horrible purring sound in the middle that I like, or maybe not, I get this stuff wrong all the time. It is the most electrifying thing anyone can ever hear. The pain goes on and on then it stutters and something else blows you away, a special something for the metal folks, pure extreme noise at full blast. I once had a radio show where we let Merzbow rip and the callers loved it, maybe they were conditioned because of the rest of my show. They often compared it to a harsh version of Lou Reed‘s Metal Machine Music, as well as parts of the soundtrack to the mid-1990s film Dead Man by Neil Young. Incredible.
Merzbow’s relationship with Signal Is Noise was forged when he headlined the label’s debut showcase in Tokyo—a global series that has since continued annually, with subsequent editions in Berlin and Mexico City. Founded in 2021 by late artist-curator Gregory Bae and sound artist Kikù Hibino, Signal Is Noise is a Chicago-based platform dedicated to avant-garde electronic music, noise, and video art—built on the belief that sound and visuals should share equal space.
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
Sedonis is available on Signal Is Noise. [Bandcamp]
