I picked up my copy of Merzbuta today at my favorite record store. I had heard mixed reviews on lastfm, and a lot of people told me they didn't like it. But hearing the description that Masami had pulled material and inspiration from Merzbox to use for the album, I had high hopes. When I played it, I was surprised to find beats a la Merzbird/Merzbeat. These beats are loops, which morph throughout the song into totally different entities by the end. Although the cover says it is the "most approachable" Merzbow cd, I beg to differ. But it is good. It seems to be more electronic and have more of an electronica feel to it, but still at the same time Masami still keeps it Merzbow. Over all, Merzbuta is a pretty good album. Although it isn't the best Merzbow release ever, it certainly isn't the worst.

Not the greatest release Merzbow ever did. The good tracks are to short and longest track is the worst. But noise is subjective anyway. What is interesting in this release is that Merzbow used sounds from the last 3 releases on the Merzbox. "Space Mix Travelling Band", "Motorond", and "Annihiloscillator" sounds are all clearly heard throughout the loops of bleeps and drums. Would have been a great release if track 5 was longer and track 3 was shorter.

Merzbuta is a completely fresh sound for Merzbow. This album is full of Autechre-like machine beats, which makes it a completely unique album in the Merzbow collection. My favorite after Merzbeat.