The Rest is Noise begins far more musically than the description "harsh noise wall" would suggest, with a repetitive musical line tonally reminiscent of early experimental electronic music. This musical line remains present throughout the rest of the album with each track gradually recontextualizing our relationship with it.
As we move forward, a noise element is introduced subtly in the background, like a dozen metal pipes in the distance being dragged across the pavement, slowly rising into prominence, until reaching a climax and fading. This is our second musical character, and the album from here is a dialogue between these elements and the listener.
About midway through, I noticed something interesting. The repetitive tonal line, which at first struck me as musical, became unconsciously filtered out as I tuned in to the subtle variations of the noise. The tonal line took the role of background noise as I came to appreciate the musical qualities in the noise.
Somehow, significant complexity in the noise slowly emerges almost undetected until it's overwhelming. Sitting in this abrasive cascade, the unchanging musical line is recontextualized once again into something hostile, either indifferent to or complicit in my descent as the noise grows ever maddening.
A new wave of noise washes over me, wiping the sonic palette clean of its prior aggression. As the noise now begins to take on tonal qualities, the importance of the original musical line seems to fade. However, we soon discover this couldn't be any further from the truth. The musical line vanishes altogether, leaving us alone. The noise now feels profoundly empty without its tonal partner.
The total result was surprisingly moving. While it's unlikely I'll listen to this regularly, the experience is absolutely worth going through at least once.