Merzbow / Shora - Switching Rhetorics - LP

First-ever vinyl release of Shora & Merzbow’s split release Switching Rhetorics, originally published on CD in 2001, with remastered audio and updated artwork.
Following the release of their acclaimed first record Shaping The Random in June 2000, Shora spent the next year touring and gigging around Europe, eventually reconvening in the studio in the summer of 2001 to record four tracks for a collaborative project with Japanese noise-meister Merzbow, a pairing initiated by Bisect Bleep Industries. The band’s sound had by that point coalesced into a tighter and arguably even more hard-hitting affair, however no less puzzling. The blistering first three tracks exude formidable confidence, embracing Dazzling Killmen-styled noise-rock and apocalyptic black metal alike, while maintaining all of Shora’s eloquent singularity. The drumming particularly shines ¬throughout, with its multidirectional eruptions of seemingly pure kinetic energy. As its title suggests, the record’s grandiose and repetitive closing piece “To Further Confines” is a clear indication of the Swiss band’s desire to keep challenging itself and looking ahead. Completed with Merzbow’s extended psychedelic digital noise études, Switching Rhetorics is an era-defining record of genuinely great artistry.

Side A :
Merzbow - T 2000 3:54 / Shora - Erode / Implode 1:45 / Shora - Discussing Watercolor Techniques 2:15 / Merzbow - Black Cat 9:03

Side B :
Shora - Conciliated Coercion 1:41 / Merzbow - Vanilla Groon 7:53 / Shora - To Further Confines 5:49