After four days, six gigs, and over 30 performances, I can confirm that the Wooden Octopus Skull Pfestival of Experimental Musick was an ear-pummeling success.

The festival began Thursday at the Sunset with Blackhumour, who manned the mixer for an intriguing text-sound piece of burbling, overlapping voices squeezed through a chain of Mu-Tron Phasor pedals. Uniting the emblematic instruments of classical music (violin) and rock (electric guitar), Noggin kept their backs to the audience and hurtled through a ferocious feedback-laden set that surpassed satisfying performances from Metalux (think Björk meets Merzbow), Anti-Ear, and the Portland Bike Ensemble

Friday was the loudest night of the festival. Two PAs at the Re-bar made ear plugs mandatory. I didn't mind getting doused by Bacillus with white powder (cocaine? Alas, no.). And I wasn't surprised that Gerritt's set of fog, strobe, and staggered chunks of distortion blew a fuse. I adored the antics of Emil Beaulieau, who chewed on contact microphones, gallivanted in his underpants, and was deservedly mobbed after offering free CDs. John Wiese served up my favorite performance with gritty microloops, pencil-thin sine waves yanked from the stratosphere, and low tones that vibrated my blood vessels.

Saturday, the much-anticipated Caroliner dazzled the crowd with fluorescent costumes but confined their music to well-executed thrash rock. I preferred Smegma, who veered from surf rock to a forest of honks, trills, and trumpet wahs.

Sunday belonged to Seattle acts. After days of distorted sound, guitar saboteur Bill Horist's clear and spiky plucks and thumps were a welcome change. Camped inside a booth at the Funhouse, Climax Golden Twins, equipped with broken electric guitars, a straw hat, and a pile of ancient rackmount gear, matched Horist's triumphant set by whipping up a violent agglomeration of feedback howls, sped up tambourine jangles, and children's lullabies. Amid the storm of applause, some guy next to me shouted, "Rock and roll!" Not quite. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI