>>8, I can't even stand to listen to Metal Machine. The range is just so piercing that it makes me want to hit things.
I think that Merzbow, Gerogerigegege, Masonna et al kind of miss my central reaction to the noise music phenomenon, that celebration of sound as a great thing in itself. The whole pretense of "Challenging the listener" is bogus, imho, just as bogus as the mysanthropy of Whitehouse or the wretched excesses of Gerogerigegege.
Merzbow's stuff is the most interesting noise being made right now, but Hanatarash is better overall. Their celebration of sound, along with the spontenaity and violence of their concerts, is a beautiful thing, and their songs all actually manage to sound different, instead of all being some guy masturbating into a contact mike.