Hybrid Noisebloom was really enjoyable. "Noisebloom" was definitely the right word to include in the title - it's full-fledged noise, but it blossoms and develops through the length of the album, sprouting colour and character.
The opener Plasma Birds has a number of different pulses that probably sound what a plasma bird's tweeting would literally be like. The changing of layers in this track means different rhythms float into each other before you realise and it's really quite genius. Minotaurus is a similarly executed track that contains a slower pulse almost akin to a heartbeat or a techno bass rhythm, except it swings upwards to create a feeling of suspense. I especially like how the track begins with flickery, crunchy noise but when the pulse peters out it cranks up the intensity like an explosion. The closer The Imaginary Conversation of Blue is a seventeen-minute climax of computer crashing tones and raucous sheets of static to wrap things up with punch.
I guess I didn't really like Neuro Electric Butterfly or Mouse of Superconception, tracks four and two. Compared to the other three they didn't have as much personality or premise. They did feel in-place, and it sounded like just as much effort was put into crafting them, but the sounds and atmospheres didn't click.
This is definitely my new favourite Merzbow however, there's clearly a reason his name fronts the noise genre as much as we see it.
>Score
two bananas