Test mixes for Arijigoku (Vivo, 2008)—Merzbow's first full-fledged combination of live drums with improvised noise performance. Drums were recorded separately in a rented studio, then mixed with noise at a later date. This preliminary version offers vivid documentation of the trial-and-error process underlying a landmark release.

The progression across three tracks demonstrates the range achievable through drum-noise synthesis: from the opening track's carefully balanced spatial composition to the finale's full-throttle collision of drumming and noise at maximum intensity.

Credits: All Music by Masami Akita
Recorded & mixed at Munemihouse, May 2008
Remastered, October 2020
Mastered by Kentaro Hayashi, Osaka