Apparently, the Finnish duo were processing sounds created by Merzbow, but how they operate is really a mystery to me, I must confess. In fact, I like the mystery. Low frequency rumblings that sounded like an airplane revving up for takeoff were overlaid by electronic beats that would not have been too far out of place at a rave. The effect was that something was happening and about to happen at the same time, a gently powerful trip that is less to be understood than experienced. Mike Chamberlain, Signal to Noise

As a strangely beautiful festival finale, the Finnish pair known as Pan Sonic met with the Japanese sound manipulator Merzbow for the first time. Perched behind their laptops in the defrocked hockey arena known as the Colisee, Pan Sonic artfully explored acoustic phenomena and together constructed a sonic wall and sonic wallpaper, full of massive and detailed touches. Amidst the curious digital din, the word "painterly" sprang to mind. It proved to be a poetic and entirely apt ending for a festival that is, by definition, in flux. Joseph Woodard, Jazz Times

The festival's closing act, Pan Sonic vs Merzbow, was worth the long wait. Their complete absence of stage presence notwithstanding, the trio orchestrated glorious cascades of white noise that sporadically collapsed into fat dirty beats – a gutrumbling excursion into the inner depths of sound and an indication of where the true spirit of improv lives in 2002. Christoph Cox, Wire

The festival was capped off by the near-deafening clamor of Merzbow and Pan Sonic. The site of three musicians sitting stoically behind laptop computers was on odd contrast to the crunching waves of sound that emanated from the speakers. The Finnish duo of Pan Sonic provided the glitchy beats and static that Merzbow (Masami Akita) used as the foundation for his palpable walls of sound. Though limited in scope, the three provided a visceral performance to bring the festival to a close. Michael Rosenstein, Cadence