HYRROKKIN / MERZBOW - Faltered Pursuit LP

Long-in-the-works collaborative LP from the master of Japanese noise Masami Akita and American avant-rock outfit Hyrrokkin.

'Faltered Pursuit' is the result of a highly unorthodox writing and recording process that also features contributions from Andrea Parkins, Rob Mazurek, and players known for their work with Fugazi, All-Scars, William Hooker, Rhys Chatham, Gastr del Sol, Monotrope, and more.

Hyrrokin are a pretty nifty instrumental improv-math-core-something trio that alone guarantee that this will be one of the most rock-oriented Merzbow collabs to date. They've got a bit of Blind Idiot God, Racebannon and live King Crimson genes in them, but are noisier than either and more freeform in execution. You'll barely notice Merzbow playing here for the first two tracks, although there's a section 6 minutes into the second track where they let a pulsating synth set the rhythm for the band and that's a quite fun part. The final track basically drops the rock portion completely and results in bouncing exchanges of noises between both artists, as well as the only vocals on the whole record.