It is impossible to overstate the importance of Richard Ramirez to the history, practice, and aesthetics of noise. He is an innovator in the development of “harsh noise” as a distinct genre of experimental sound, working under his own name as well as in seminal projects such as Black Leather Jesus, Werewolf Jerusalem, and literally dozens of others. Through his Deadline Recordings label Richard helped curate the distinctive “Americanoise” sound, pushing noise into increasingly aggressive terrain. Some of Richard’s best work has been issued under his own name, and this collection is the first in an ongoing series that documents these hard-to-find solo recordings.

This first installment features recordings released on four of the most important noise labels of the 1990s: Rush (Self Abuse), Certain Cruelty (Slaughter Productions), Spread-Em (Spite), and Erotica (Deadline Recordings), which is available in its entirety for the first time in this boxset spread across two CDs. The discs have been remastered from the original source tapes by Grant Richardson. Each is housed in an individual slip-case featuring the original artwork, with design handled by John Wiese. The discs are housed in a hard clamshell case, and the box also includes a booklet featuring archival flyers, advertisements, and liner notes by Patrick O'Neil (Self Abuse Records) and Stefan Aune (New Forces).