Power Electronics/Noise

Forgoing traditional musical elements of rhythm, composition, melody, and harmony, Power Electronics and Noise artists create extreme dissonance through the use (or misuse) of rudimentary electrical equipment. Power Electronics hit critical mass in the early 1980s with artists like Whitehouse and Merzbow, who surrounded their music with images of extreme violence and sadomasochism. Noise artists obtain very similar results with the use of processed guitar, voice and samples to generate clashing walls of conflict. Power Electronics and Noise artists were inspired by early Industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle who attempted to push the threshold of human hearing (and tolerance) by "playing" deafening white noise in live performances.