If anything good has come from the deluge of content being rained down upon the internet and the few print publications left standing, it’s that the far extremes of the music world are finally getting some above-ground attention. It’s not unusual to see Pitchfork cover harsh noise artists like Prurient, or NPR writers raving about free jazz outfit Grid. This small sea change is also the reason why one of the hottest tickets in the first quarter of 2018 is Torment Is Flesh, a festival of noise, black metal, and power electronics being held this weekend at the High Water Mark and the Tonic Lounge.
Organized by the enigmatic gents behind local record labels Vrasubatlat and Unseen Force, the three-day event features a mouthwatering lineup that’s mostly culled from the Northwest’s underground community. But there are also a few choice names from outside the area, like Oakland-based experimentalist Ryan Jencks, who creates engulfing torrents of noise under the name Cruor Incendia, and the explosive metal of Skáphe, a duo featuring Icelandic vocalist/guitarist D.G.