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There's a form of underground music that's so underground that it's looking up at the underground. It's called noise. Noise, a misunderstood genre of music so extreme that it makes death metal sound tame. Noise, music that follows its own rules, then quickly disregards them because noise hates rules. Noise, a genre of music that's flourishing, alive and well beneath the underground of the underground music world.

Other forms of music have been labeled as "noise" in the past, like Rock and Roll in the 50's, Punk in the late 70's, and Metal in the 80's. But noise really is "noise". And it's been around a long time with artists and releases dating back over 20 years. So why would someone want to create music that "looks up at the underground"? Why not? That's like asking a painter why they paint or a sculptor why they sculpt. Or, asking a writer why they write. It's simply a form of expression. An extreme form of expression.

Though the mainstream world knows very little about noise, there's plenty of information and mp3s available online. One quick search of "noise music" or "noise band" will reveal thousands of interesting and colorful web sites and bands from around the world (and I use the term "colorful" as a description of the language and band names, not of the palates of the web sites).

A quick listen might have you think that noise is "anti-music" and that the bands are into gore, death and chaos. A quick listen might also be kind of painful if your playback system is set at a normal volume as noise is, well, loud. In fact, noise may redefine loud as we know it, so please, let me warn those bold enough: try it first at low volumes and keep an open mind. And, if you're ready to experience (even for a brief few seconds) something, extreme, bold, unusual, strange, powerful, and "counter to everything that popular music holds dear", prepare yourself. Noise might just become the next "big thing" in music. Or, maybe not.