Reviews:

From Compulsion: (by Tony Dickie)

  Okay, just how wrong would you be if you thought this Merzbow and Nordvargr release would throw up heaving blasts of noise and cavernous dark ambient groans? Wrong. Very, very wrong. For the most part. Partikel II is the second part of a planned trilogy between the Japanese experimental noise musician and the prolific and varied Swedish black metal / black industrial noise artist where soundsources were swapped and worked on by each of the collaborators.

  Partikel II consists of four tracks, with two of the tracks 'Reakt I' and 'Reakt 2' breaking the 20 minute mark. A series of noise barrages take up the first few minutes of 'Reakt 1'. The crunching rhythms that underpin the distortion and screeching gradually break free to lead the listener on something of a merry dance. Glitchy electronics, controlled high end screechiness, snatches of layered electronic distortion all kept in check by skittery rhythms, that verge on IDM territory. It attains a real fucked-up groove, but a groove nonetheless.

  The influence of Nordvargr can be found on the dark ambient undertones of 'Luxon'. They don't manage to take centre stage though due to the interplay between rhythms and stutterning electronica. They're replaced by a series of buzzing drones, and clipped static fuzz, with groaning dark ambient swells that diminshes before bowing out with yet more rhythms.

  'Reakt 2' returns to the groove first encountered on 'Reakt 1', with a loose downbeat low end throb. It all starts with a rush of layered noise before crackling textures give way to a mass of disjointed rhythms with passages of windswept noise. It eventually settles on almost electronic dub rhythm, kinda reminiscent of Techno Animal. Clocking in at just under the half hour mark it never succumbs to a given sound opting instead for fluid passages of whirring and gliding electronics, occasionally given some squelchy treatments. While the noise is dense and layered it's never overstated nor harsh enough to overshadow the rhythm. You'd be hard pushed to guess the identities of the musicians involved here.

  Partikel II ends on a real prime slice of dark atmospheric electronica. The scream of a petrified girl opens the final track, 'Brockengeist Elektron', amidst flickering glitches and deep, dark ambient rumbles. There's moments of crunchy textures, disembodied voices and brief snatches of melody throughout the rhythmic sinister ambience.

  Partikel II is going to raise eyebrows, and I suspect there will be lots of head scratching by followers of Merzbow, Nordvargr and Cold Spring collectors. It's by far the most original piece of work from either party and the combination of noise, ambient and rhythms is by far the most listenable material from both too. So if you think you've got these two prolific musicians sussed, I'm afraid, you're going to have think again.

From Aquarius:

  The long awaited second installment in the who-knows-how-many-parts Partikel series, which features a collaboration between AQ fave Swedish dark ambient, militant folk, black metal noise technician Nordvargr (Toroidh, MZ412, Folkstorm, Goatvargr, HH9, etc...) and Japanese noise legend Masami Akita aka Merzbow.

  Strange bedfellows maybe, but the results here, as on the first installment, are pretty mind-blowing. Akita generated the sounds, Nordvargr took those sounds and twisted them into completely new forms, the result some strange noise/drone/rhythm hybrid that is WAY more listenable than it has any right to be.

  The opener sets the tone, a twenty minute crumbling distorted noisescape, like bits of old Merzbow records all chopped up and assembled again Frankenstein's monster fashion, that veers from full on near-metallic crunch, to strange skittery almost IDM, but even at it's calmest, the track is still rife with strange sounds and damaged FX, bursts of harsh noise surfacing here and there amidst an alien landscape of stutters and shuffles, of creaks and squeaks, almost like a black metal Mouse On Mars if one could even imagine such a thing.

  The second track sounds heavier on the Nordvargr than the Merzbow, a rumbling shimmering low end, that creeps and drifts before splintering briefly into another rhythmic glitchscape, just as quickly transforming into a buzzing snarling fuzzed out drone, thick and corrosive, subtly rhythmic, but intense and crackling with energy. Deep cavernous tones swell in the background, while above the blurry buzz, strange crunchy electronic pulses mark out a simple static rhythm.

  The third track is Part 2 to the opener's Part 1, and takes the openers skitter to a much meaner, much harsher place, a swirling high end cloud of hissing static and keening sine waves, over a relentlessly pulsing backdrop, that changes pitch, and tempo, stuttering and hiccuping, creating a gorgeously confusional rhythmscape, eventually breaking into a near-groove, a loping downtempo slither, but still wrapped in all manner of electronic detritus and squalls of fuzz and crackle and whir.

  The closer winds things down with more of a whisper than a scream, the glitchy rhythms are still present, but they are ultra minimal, skeletal, almost like shortwave interference, beneath a tidal swirl of murk and blur, a dark ambient buzz that stretches lazily into long expanses of slow shifting sounds. Over the course of the track, little bits of melody surface here and there, the rhythms get more agitated before drifting back beneath the surface, and mysterious voices surface amidst sparkling sonic glimmers and moaning ambient rumble, a dreamy dark ambient coda to an intense slab of droning skittering buzz and crunch, shimmer and swirl.

  Partikel II is IDM for the demon set, a blackened noise drenched skitter, an abstract metallic free-electronica, and a definite droney dancefloor filler, that is if you want your dancefloor filled with shuffling zombies, growling beasts and unspeakable denizens of the underworld... And who doesn't?!

From Side-Line: (by Paul Lloyd)

  “Partikel II” is the second in a collaborative trilogy between Masami Akita, the legendary and prolific Japanese experimentalist Merzbow, and Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk, the Swedish noise protagonist also known as MZ.412, Folkstorm and Toroidh. Recorded during September 2005 in their respective studios using each other’s music as sound sources, “Partikel II” ranges from dense, noisy experimentation to dark ambient soundscapes across four lengthy tracks. Opening with the noisy outburst of sound that is “Reakt 1”, what initially seems like to be a harsh electronic barrage starts to show evidence of rhythmic structure through its 20 minute duration. Taking noise manipulation in a different and more structured direction is “Luxon” with elements of dark ambience, drone, noise and electronica. Less harsh and abstract than “Reakt 1”, the 27 minute “Reakt 2” focuses on huge dense layered drones with low throbbing rhythms appearing in a howling windswept landscape. Closing the album is the harrowing dark ambient “Brockengeist Elektron”; opening with the desperate screams of a petrified woman, it incorporates atmospheric drones, minute glitchy sounds, drifting texture and edgy rhythms to create a captivating but sinister piece of listening music. Although not overly harsh, “Partikel II” could offer a challenging listen for those not accustomed to the genre. It is, however, a fascinating album of sound experimentation.

From Heathen Harvest: (by Prenna)

  This second collaboration between two noise legends, Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) and Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk (MZ.412, Folkstorm, Toroidh, etc.), is a varied and at times surprising release. With each artist working on material from the other as soundsources, this album turned out nothing like how I was anticipating it.

  Reakt 1 opens the kind of noise burst we would expect from these two artists. Pulsing, grinding noise, dominates the first two or three minutes of this twenty-minute track. Towards the end of the opening barrage we start to hear the rhythm, that carries the rest of the piece, break through. For the remainder of the track the listener is treated to glitches, burst of static, and other manipulated tweaks, over the mid-paced and (dare I say) funky rhythm. This track really gets my body moving. I never thought I’d consider dancing to anything by either Merzbow or Nordvargr but I could certainly bop to this one.

  Luxon changes direction with a darker more ambient feel to it. There is still the rhythmic element to it but it often gives way to a break down of static and feedback. This could be the “chill out room” track to accompany Reakt 1. Less of a danceable track more of a lay back and let the rhythms and soundscapes carry you away.

  Reakt 2 returns to a similar area as Reakt 1, Kicking off with a mid-paced driving beat and building layers of noise. Over the 27+ minutes of Reakt 2 there is bursts of noise, dancefloor-friendly moments, and a variety of sounds woven throughout, including one that sounds like a squadron of Cylon raiders (Battlestar Galactica). Like Reakt 1 the pulsing rhythm keeps me moving.

  Brockengeist Elektron is my favourite of the four pieces here. Much, much darker than the others. The sample of the screaming woman in the first minute sets the tone for the whole nine minutes fifteen seconds of glitching darkness. A dark ambient, almost death industrial, piece with a rhythmic element. Great use of haunting samples at various points. There aspects of this track that makes me think of Black Lung’s more ambient moments.

  Partikel II possibly won’t score too many points with the harsh noise purists but I think it’s great album. It’s a real showcase of the range and talent that both artists have. Overall Partikel II brings to mind Throbbing Gristle’s more dancy material. I certainly can’t wait to hear what the final CD in the trilogy brings.

From Zero Tolerance: (by Simon Collins)

  Intercontinental nabobs of noise Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (MZ.412, Folkstorm, Toroidh, Goatvargr etc) and Masami Akita (a.k.a. Merzbow) have been keeping the server connections between Sweden and Japan swarming with data packets, swapping files to create the second part of their Partikel trilogy. As with the first part, released in 2005, each artist used the other's work as a sound source, then mashed it up to their heart's content. 'Reakt 1' is twenty minutes of weird little cut-up snippets of blips, burbles, clicks and glitches disporting themselves around a basic rhythmic axis. Occasional waves of noise impinge, but the track never becomes a truly difficult listen - it's quite funky, in its own peculiar way, more like Venetian Snares than either Merzbow or Nordvargr. 'Luxon' is shorter and quieter, with slowly building drones reminiscent of Moljebka Pvlse, although it still retains a rhythmic core - which is by no means a given with noise music. If you dislikes 'Reakt 1', the bad news is that 'Reakt 2' is even longer - nearly 28 minutes! It's again quite IDM-influenced, even using looped phrases of melody and beats among the washes of noise in this collaboration's closest approach yet to conventional music. The closing track 'Brockengeist Elektron' is very quiet and unobtrusive, sounding like ambient electronics projects such as Mandelbrot or Lapsed. Comparing Partikel II to the first Partikel album, it seems as if Partikel II most resembles 'Tardyon Storm', sharing with it an attachment to rhythm, a deployment of cascades of tiny partikels of noise, and a certain ambient, disengaged sensibility. There's nothing on Partikel II as unambiguously noisy as 'Kyofu-0' from the first album, and hardened noise fans are not going to find their need for sonic punishment met by either of the Partikel albums - they offer a more subtle experience than that. The Partikel trilogy is also notably free of the confrontational political imagery frequently employed by Nordvargr, using bleakly restrained images of cliff-faces and bleached bones instead.

From Black: (By M.F.)

   "Partikel II" ist eine Kollaboration vom japanischen Noise-Meister MERZBOW mit dem schwedischen Schlachter NORDVARGR (MZ.412, FOLKSTORM, TOROIDH usw.) und die logische Fortsetzung von "Partikel", welche im Jahre 2004 veröffentlicht wurde. Beide Krachspezialisten ergänzen sich hier in ihrer Zusammenarbeit sehr gut und auf dem neuen Album bzw. den 4 Tracks mit einer Gesamtspielzeit von rund 70 Minuten treffen digitaler Schredder-Noise auf grollenden Dark Ambient, der mit Fieldrecordings und vereinzelten Rhythmen aufgelockert wird. Definitiv nichts für Leute mit Hörsturz...

From Vital Weekly: (by NMP)

  If ever a music genre called "Noise Chill-Out" will emerge, this new album from the Merzbow/Nordvargr-joint venture will be a milestone of that style. When two noise giants collaborate it would be fair to expect an aural explosion of extreme noise, but this is not the case with this second collaboration between Japanese noise maestro Masami Akita (Merzbow) and Swedish Henrik Nordvargr Bjork (MZ 412). The album titled "Partikel II" is a quite unusual beast with its mixture of wriggling noises, distorted drones and a frequent use of club-like rhythm textures. In the first opening minutes the listener is confronted with harsh expressions of noise - no rhythms or else to calm the powers of aural machismo, but slowly after, the first passages of subtle rhythms interfere and the opening storm of sonic aggression fades away, letting more discreet, never the less effective noise drones wriggle and drill into the body of the listener. Two tracks, "Reakt 1" and "Reakt 2", exceed the 20 minutes run-time, giving plenty of space to create long trance inducing moments of noise meets catchy rhythms. In between these two noise giants comes the excellent work "Luxon", a work which is more directed towards territories of isolationist ambient with its almost complete exclusion of rhythm textures and with more weight put on buzzing chill-out drones. After the 28 minutes long work "Reakt 2", we begin to approach the end of the album. But do not expect a peaceful conclusion! The sinister work titled "Brockengeist elektron" opens the gates to its horror with processed samples of a VERY frightened girl screaming in panic. And thus the foundations have been laid for nine minutes in hell! Combinations of haunting ambient drones, bizarre field recordings and unpleasant voice samples makes one thing for sure: That the listener will leave "Partikel II" amazed, disturbed and very impressed. A masterwork!