As usual with Merzbow albums, “Protean World” is about energy and texture. This recent release is ferocious, free form, and seriously loud. Most of those aspects are present in a typical Merzbow release, but what sets apart “Protean World” is its monotony, the complete lack of change or dynamics. It’s one massive, cleansing blast. It’s overwhelmingly dense and thick; it’s difficult to tell the layers apart or even the number of layers present. The layers don’t even really seem intended to mesh or sync up, exactly. This album is actually a lot more layered, chaotic and full of sound than even a lot of the classic Merzbow albums that are known for being relentless and harsh, such as Pulse Demon. It might be the most relentless album I’ve ever heard from him. It completely surrounds you, like a howling wind.
“Protean World” abandons rhythm more totally than any album I’ve heard of his, despite being the first Merzbow album I’ve heard to include live drumming (although I know he’s done a lot of experimenting with that on other recent releases as well). In the past, there was usually at least some kind of rhythmic feedback loop or shakey pulse present in the mix.
Most of these comments apply primarily to Side 1, as Side 2 has a little more dynamic range and a few more rhythmic elements, although it still completely retains the overwhelmingly dense, layered feeling of Side 1. Compositionally, I prefer Side 2, but for a screaming, enveloping catharsis, it’s hard to beat Side 1. Few, if any, musicians do this as well as Masami Akita.
“Protean World” is definitely not going to convince any detractor of noise that Merzbow is ‘music’. In fact, even seasoned Merzbow fans may be hard pressed to find the musicality in these cacophonous 35 minutes. Basically, whether you’ll enjoy this album depends on what you look for in music, and what you look for in a Merzbow album. There is some serious intensity here. It can be easily interpreted as angry and violent, but in the end it’s just the sound of power, pure energy. If you’re in a bad mood and catharsis is what you want, this will do you just fine. It has less of that meditative quality that even Merzbow’s harshest material has often had, but I still don’t feel like the energy of the album is truly negative or dark.
I do wonder about the aesthetic pleasing but possibly ominous splintered wood in the album art. If I had to analyze it, I’d say it looks like a building that’s been destroyed by a natural disaster like a tornado or a hurricane. The idea of the subservience of civilization and man-made things to something so powerful as extreme weather seems a fitting theme for an album such as this.
In conclusion, this is an interesting Merzbow album that I enjoy listening to. It’s not essential, and it’s not one of his best, but then again it’s so specialized towards a certain idea that it’s destined to be one of those albums that’s meant for certain occasions only. 4 stars.
