Exclusive Album Stream: Hyrrokkin & Merzbow’s Faltered Pursuit

Hyrrokkin, the now-defunct avant rock trio from Ohio, did not overtly have much in common with the revered Japanese noise experimentalist Merzbow (né Masami Akita)… other than, of course, a shared sense of creative adventurousness sorely lacking from so much modern music. But it’s precisely those sonic differences’ combination with that overlapping willingness to think outside the box that actually makes the two project perfect bedfellows.

To wit: Hyrrokkin’s upcoming swan song and collaboration with Merzbow, Faltered Pursuit. The project originated when Hyrrokkin reached out to Merzbow to contribute to Inspire Rioting, a collection of remixes from their album Pristine Origin. Merzbow, being Merzbow, agreed to work with Hyrrokkin, but not exactly in the manner which they initially envisioned: rather than remix the music he’d been sent, Merzbow gave Hyrrokkin a pair of original recordings for them to use as the basis for their own new compositions. Faltered Pursuit is the result of this unique exercise.

Actually, “unique” is underselling it. Faltered Pursuit is truly unclassifiable, an intimidating entanglement of dense, challenging math-noise that is completely unbound from formula and convention. It’s easy to imagine Faltered Pursuit appealing equally to fans of vintage Dillinger Escape Plan, fans of terrifying death dealers Portal, and fans of ambient black metaller Jute Gyte. Truly, if you’re looking for something totally original that absolutely demands your active engagement, look no further than Faltered Pursuit.

MetalSucks is proud to debut Faltered Pursuit ahead of its release tomorrow, Friday, November 5, via Sleeping Giant Glossolalia. Stream it below!

The final album consists of Merzbow’s recordings, topped by Hyrrokkin’s accompaniments (performed live, but composed in part by computer), laced with additional contributions from various guest musicians. It was then put in the hands of Rob Mazurek for a total “remix,” and was mixed by Jason LaFarge (Swans, Nastie Band) at Seizures Palace in Brooklyn and mastered by James Plotkin (Sunn 0))), Gnaw). The artwork was created by Ian Anderson/The Designers Republic (Aphex Twin, Stern). Preorder it here!!