Skullflower

Sonic extremist, noise terrorist, and drone rock godfather Matthew Bower has been recording and performing since the late '70s. While his earliest projects (Pure and Total) focused largely on proto-industrial sound collages consisting of layered tape-loops and ambient noise, Skullflower, formed in 1982, was a more conventionally rock-oriented undertaking, featuring relatively familiar rock instrumentation. Nonetheless, the group’s 1988 debut, BIRTHDEATH, was a fairly extreme experiment in bracing noise, layered drones, and dissonant psychedelic textures. Subsequent releases like 1990s acclaimed XAMAN further developed this sound. The group disbanded in the late ‘90s only to reform in 2003.