Merzbow announces new album ‘Sporangium’ and reissue of ‘Merzphysics’ 10CD box
Merzbow (Photo by Jenny Akita)
This one is fresh from the Audioglobe news alert line. Japanese noise icon Merzbow will release a brand-new album titled “Sporangium” and reissue the long out-of-print 10CD box “Merzphysics” on August 1, 2025. Both releases are limited to 300 copies and come via Old Europa Cafe.
“Sporangium” features three long-form tracks recorded and mixed by Masami Akita at Munemihouse, Tokyo in March 2025. Described as new “MERZSONIKS”, the release includes Akita’s signature harsh noise approach using handmade instruments, contact microphones, distortion and glitch pedals, synthesizers, and both software and hardware setups.
The album comes as a limited digipak CD. The track titles include:
- Sporangium [18:00]
- Zeolite [26:31]
- Sheep Teeth [13:23]
The second release is a remastered edition of the expansive 10CD box set “Merzphysics”, originally issued in 2012 by the Japanese label Youth Inc. (株式会社ユース), it has long since been sold out. This 2025 version preserves the original cassette-based recordings from 1993–1995, remixed in 2012 and now newly remastered. All material was recorded live to cassette at ZSF Produkt Studio and reflects a pre-synthesizer era of the project’s work, characterized by high-speed, grindcore-inflected pure noise.
Track titles reference vintage cassette brands such as AXIA PS, GPX, UX, and CDix. The full set includes 20 tracks across 10 CDs housed in individually printed sleeves, with an estimated box weight of 400 grams.
About Merzbow
Merzbow is the primary project of Japanese noise artist Masami Akita, founded in Tokyo in 1979.
Initially focused on tape experiments and harsh electronics, Merzbow became synonymous with the Japanoise genre by the mid-1990s. Early cassettes and LPs on ZSF Produkt established Akita’s signature style, which evolved over decades through hundreds of releases and collaborations.
The 1990s saw international recognition through albums on labels such as Relapse, Extreme, and Tzadik.
While often exploring environmental and animal rights themes, Merzbow’s sound remains rooted in analog feedback, distortion, and non-traditional instrumentation. Akita continues to record and tour globally, with recent projects including archival box sets and immersive noise compositions.
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