This album contains material from two cassettes, each of which consists mainly of a different take of the album "Antimonument", originally released by ZSF Produkt in 1986.
Both cassettes are titled "Nigled", which may have been the original title of the song "Tatara" from "Antimonument", and included the first take of "3 Types of Industrial Pollusion", which would later be included as a bonus track when "Antimonument" was reissued. (The drum track used in this song was recorded live in a solo studio).
In the mid-80s, the period in which this album was produced, Merzbow established his own style of industrial noise through the use of a variety of tape based sources, the use of mechanical loops, and a thorough radicalization of distorted tones, all of which resonated with the industrial movement that had emerged around the world since the appearance of Throbbing Gristle. It can be said that this is the first achievement in his career.
Among the works of Merzbow in the 80's with such a trend and flow, "Antimonument" is very popular for its stimulating content of high-speed sample cut-ups and industrial sounds. The album is also known for its continuity with the highly collaged style of "Batztoutai With Memorial Gadgets," another prominent work from the 1980s, and for the fact that it offers a condensed version of the main elements of Merzbow's musicality. This album, "Antimonument Tapes," which is composed mainly of the other takes, has an agitated finish, featuring more boldly the clash between the crude sounds of junk playing and the cracked noise that is often used as samples.
yorosz (aka Shuta Hiraki)
credits
released July 13, 2021
All Music by Masami Akita
Recorded & Mixed at ZSF Produkt Studio, Tokyo 1985-86.
Remastered from Original Cassette Tape at Munemihouse, Tokyo, August 2018.
Yasuyuki Nakamura (slowdown records) : A&R
supported by 4 fans who also own “Antimonument Tapes”
Easily one of my favourite Merzbow records and one of my favourite noise records in general. Expertly crafted and blisteringly hot sonically, it's definitely not one to miss. Audrey Cusack
The pulsing industrial sounds on the wonderfully brutal new LP from Tokyo group Rinsaga will be catnip for the black-glove-and-mesh set. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 15, 2022
Composer Eiko Ishibashi's soundtrack from "Drive My Car" is full of sweeping yet gentle melodies that rise and fall in romantic waves. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 3, 2022