Room40 head Lawrence English has announced all proceeds from its next release will be donated to charity. Based in Queensland, the label is working with several organisations assisting with fire recovery throughout the season's catastrophic events, with the devastation of vast territories and destruction of untold numbers of animals and habitats. Now, money from its forthcoming Merzbow release are going directly to Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation WIRES.

In June and July 2019 Masami Akita, the man behind Merzbow, had been in Australia for Room40’s Open Frame festival, performing in both Sydney and Melbourne. “Between the concerts, Akita spent his days visiting a variety of forests, spending time with legendary Australia fauna icons like the Australian white ibis, little penguins and various other native species,” English tells us. “As a vegan, his affinity for the natural world is unconditional. With this in mind he has announced all profits from this edition will be donated to assisting wildlife recovery in the wake of the Australia bushfire crisis of the past few months. Room40 will be matching all money raised. Thanks Merzbow!”

StereoAkuma is released on 28 February. Merzbow will play at The Old Museum in Brisbane on 28 February and Arts Centre Melbourne on 26. Listen to “StereoAkuma (Encore)” below.