Posted in Whathaveyou on January 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Tickets go out tomorrow for the first round of 20th anniversary touring to be undertaken by Author and Punisher, which will bring the San Diego-based industrial doom outfit — Tristan Shone on midi machines/vocals, Doug Sabolick on guitar — to the East Coast starting at the end of next month in the company of Morne and Glassing.
I haven’t caught Author & Punisher live since the release of Krüller (review here) in 2022, and this is something I’d very much like to correct before Shone does another record, which would presumably happen not before the end of this year, but even that means March 3 at Saint Vitus Bar might be my last shot at doing so. I suck at everything, life most of all, but golly I’d like to see that show. Fingers crossed I can, you know, bring myself to leave the house.
Congratulations to Shone though on 20 years of Author and Punisher. I’ve been writing about music for about that long (including pre-Obelisk), and it’s not a minor amount of time to dedicate yourself to something that the vast majority of the world will never be able to understand.
From the PR wire:
AUTHOR & PUNISHER ANNOUNCES WINTER 2024 NORTH AMERICA HEADLINE TOUR
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF AUTHOR & PUNISHER
SUPPORT BY MORNE & GLASSING
AUTHOR & PUNISHER celebrates 20 years of industrial mastery in 2024! A&P kicks off the landmark anniversary year with a North America headline tour throughout late February & March performing songs throughout his entire catalog. Special support provided by Morne & Glassing.
Tickets are on sale Friday, January 12 at 10am EST.
TRISTAN SHONE Comments on 20 Years of AUTHOR & PUNISHER:
“Author & Punisher started as myself playing guitar with a drum machine in 2004 as a move towards being more efficient as one person; I’d had enough of band complexities slowing things down. Throughout the years I opened the flood gates and through my experience at art school I began experimenting with what industrial doom and drone metal really could be. Fast forward 20 years, I feel as though A&P has become part of my psyche… when I walk down the street with headphones listening to tracks I’m developing, my right hand is cycling through beats and I’m visualizing how I can meld the mechanical and the atonal; it has become second nature. In thinking back, I’ve had some great on stage experiences, but equally valuable were the experiences… the weird ones where someone goes out of their way to take you somewhere to eat or see something that is off the charts. I have no doubt that A&P will continue as a creative vessel for many years to come.
To celebrate 20 years, we’re starting things off with a Winter 2024 Northeast USA/CAN tour with Morne and Glassing hitting some spots we missed in the last couple years and pounding some spots that we thought needed a little more. This is our first tour since June 2023, so we hope to see you all out there.”
AUTHOR & PUNISHER NORTH AMERICA 2024 Tour Dates w/ Morne and Glassing
Feb 23 Cambridge, MA Sonia Feb 24 Quebec City, QC Cabaret Foufones Feb 25 Toronto, ON Garrison Feb 27 Detroit, MI Sanctuary Feb 28 Chicago, IL Reggies Feb 29 Indianapolis, IN Black Circle Mar 01 Columbus, OH Ace of Cups Mar 02 Bensalem, PA Broken Goblet Mar 03 Brooklyn, NY Saint Vitus
Stay tuned for AUTHOR & PUNISHER announcements through 2024!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
With the ever-present caveat that I know nothing about anything basically as a general condition of existence, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that the video streaming below for “Maiden Star” from Author & Punisher‘s 2022 LP, Krüller (review here), is perhaps an unofficial drawdown to the cycle for the album from whence it comes. And that maybe after embarking on statistically-significant tours in the US and Europe for the better part of the last 18 months, vocalist/synthesist/machinist Tristan Shone and guitarist Doug Sabolick (also of Philly freak rock forerunners Ecstatic Vision) might begin the however-long process of moving toward the next outing. Writing, in other words. And because we’re talking about Author & Punisher, perhaps also building.
I didn’t see Author & Punisher supporting Krüller, and looking at having now apparently missed my chance, I’ll count it as a character flaw on my part. To say the album still resonates almost feels like an insult by proposing the idea that it wouldn’t, but in terms of ‘holding up,’ I had it on spontaneously in the car the other day and its dystopia is no less sprawling than it was emerging from covid winter last February. And I’ve seen a bunch of videos from sundry locales in likewise sundry countries, and with Shone running midi through his homemade drone machines — which I couldn’t decide whether or not to capitalize; are they a proper noun, I wonder? — and Sabolick alongside conveying organic distortion through lumbering riffs and emphasizing the depth of character in the material and the traditions of industrial metal that are in-part a launch point for Author & Punisher generally. Not like they didn’t come to New York. I just missed it. Turns out sucking at life kind of sucks sometimes. Go figure.
Homage is paid to the live experience from the band’s point of view in the James Rexroad-directed — if you were a good band from the Pacific Northwest there would be at least a 79 percent chance he took your awesome promo photos — clip for “Maiden Star.” We see Shone and Sabolick traveling, hurry-up-and-waiting and, of course, playing on stage which is the point of the rest in the first place, burning through a steady supply of ‘these machines kill fascists’ shirts all the while. They’ll be back out at some point, if potentially with a different set.
In addition to the video, the PR wire brings word that Shone‘s Drone Machines manufacturing concern — which definitely gets capitalized — is in NYC doing cool shit, which isn’t necessarily directly relevant to “Maiden Star,” but you can see below what’s detailed in a photo by that absolute non-Machiavellian prince of a human being, Dante Torrieri, speaking of people who do cool shit.
Enjoy:
Author & Punisher, “Maiden Star” official video
AUTHOR & PUNISHER SHARES “MAIDEN STAR” MUSIC VIDEO
BEGINS ARCA x DRONE MACHINES PARTNERSHIP NOW THROUGH OCT 15 IN NYC
KRÜLLER FULL-LENGTH OUT NOW
Industrial mastermind AUTHOR & PUNISHER shares the official “Maiden Star” music video from the 2022 release full-length Krüller! Watch the full video on A&P’s YouTube Channel HERE.
“Maiden Star” video was shot during AUTHOR & PUNISHER’s 2023 June European tour by James Rexroad who joined A&P across the northern EU territories and edited by Augie Arredondo.
AUTHOR & PUNISHER comments on the video:
“”Every time I watch this video it hits me…it’s a beautiful music scene and it really makes me so thankful that I get to do what I do. Thanks to James Rexroad for coming along and capturing the community, the energy and the power of heavy music in our lives. Shout out to my bandmate Doug Sabolick, John Cota (sound engineer) and Augie Arredondo for editing the damn thing. From the fjords of Norway, the wood fired saunas of Helsinki and Tallinn, to the beer halls of Bochum, with friends new and old, this one goes out to the fans who support underground music. The community is strong. We love you.”
Additionally, AUTHOR & PUNISHER and his intrepid gear company DRONE MACHINES announce a partnership with visionary multi-discipline artist ARCA designing and building machines for her live work Mutant;Destrudo at Park Avenue Armory in NYC now through October 15!
AUTHOR & PUNISHER comments on Arca:
“There aren’t many artists out there as innovative and groundbreaking as Arca. Her style of production and visual design is visceral, dark, and bleak; yet always intriguing and exciting. She’s produced amazing solo works as well as music for Bjork, Kanye West, and FKA Twigs to name a few. When she asked me to build her some machines I immediately jumped on it. We’ve worked on this now for the past 8 months with Alejandra and her creative team focusing on building some industrial controllers that would interact with her DJ setup and allow her to make broader, more physical strokes with levers, sliders, and large knobs. There are five machines in total: one Fader, two Throttles, and two Platters that are all rack mounted above her DJ setup with the table suspended from the ceiling by chains. The aesthetic of Drone Machines (the small gear company birthed from Author & Punisher) is raw and industrial, with heavy machine components. Functionally, there is MIDI, USB, DSP Audio output, and CV/Gate; they are completely open source. Many thanks and shout outs to the team at Drone Machines working with me who helped on this project as well as the other devices we are making: Adam Reed-Erickson (mechanical engineer), Jason Begin (sound designer, producer, composer), and Hanri Thayyil (software engineer).”
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Not that I really needed one, but I’ve been hearing the plod of Author & Punisher in my head all week and have been looking for a few free minutes and an excuse to revisit 2022’s brilliant Krüller (review here), and lo, here comes word of a European tour and US dates starting Saturday in Hamden, Connecticut, and that’s more than enough, especially since, as I said at the outset, I didn’t need the excuse to start with.
That fucking record stomped a crater in my consciousness all last year, and I still hear “Maiden Star” just thinking about it, ditto the title-track — “Held up a truck, pulls to the right,” is one of the best lyrics I heard in 2022; does so much literary work; puts you in mind of the character; imagine stealing a someone’s pickup and being pissed the alignment is off; the sensory evocation of being in that vehicle, done in less words than this half-assed explanation of it; genius — and “Incinerator” and even “Drone Carrying Dread” with all its scene-setting ambience, making the world the record just dropped you into.
Anyhow, go to the shows. Yeah, all of ’em. That’s right. US and Europe. You hate your god damn job anyway. Fuck it. Quit and follow Author & Punisher around. Out with Imperial Triumphant, no less. You could spend that time so, so much worse. Like by going to that job. So don’t.
The update came down from Bandcamp, and if you want to take it as a sign of the esteem in which I hold this band, I’ll tell you that today was already an 11-post day before I saw this news and that is more than twice what I generally consider “enough” for a day and I still decided to put this together as post number 12. Madness:
We are excited to reveal that Author & Punisher will be bringing the drone machines back to Europe this June. We’ll be joining up with Imperial Triumphant for a few co-headlining dates, partnering with Statiqbloom for a run, and hitting some fests along the way. Check out the full list of dates below and grab tickets here:lnkfi.re/APlive
Stateside A&P fans can catch Tristan and Doug supporting HEALTH in April. The tour kicks off THIS SATURDAY in Hamden, CT and culminates on the West Coast with two special headlining shows with Snakes of Russia supporting.
We’re keeping select digital releases as pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp throughout touring season. So grab some tunes to prepare for the shows and keep an eye out for more goodies for the next Bandcamp Friday.
See you on the road fuckers!
-Tristan & Team
April US dates supporting HEALTH:
APR 01- HAMDEN, CT- SPACE BALLROOM APR 02- WASHINGTON, DC- UNION STAGE APR 04- COLUMBUS, OH- A&R MUSIC BAR APR 06- MADISON, WI- HIGH NOON SALOON APR 07- HAMTRAMCK, MI- FIXATION FESTIVAL- SMALL’ S APR 08- CLEVELAND, OH- GROG SHOP APR 09- PITTSBURGH, PA- THUNDERBIRD MUSIC HALL APR 14 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA – DNA LOUNGE* APR 15- SAN DIEGO, CA- MUSIC BOX APR 16 – LOS ANGELES, CA – RESIDENT*
*A&P headlines with Snakes of Russia, no HEALTH
June European Headlining dates:
07 JUNE – Liege, Belgium – La Zone 09 JUNE – Gdansk, Poland – Mystic Festival 10 JUNE – Warsawa, Poland – VooDoo* 12 JUNE – Riga, Latvia – Vagonu Hall* 13 JUNE – Tallin, Estonia – Paavli 7* 16 JUNE – Stockholm, Sweden – Hus7* 17 JUNE – Oslo, Norway – Bla* 18 JUNE – Malmo, Sweden – Plan B 19 JUNE – Copenaghen, Denmark – Basement^ 20 JUNE – Hamburg, Germany – Hafenklang^ 21 JUNE – Bochum, Germany – Die Trompete^ 22 JUNE – Antwerp, Belgium – Kavka^ 23 JUNE – Bourlon, France – Rock in Bourlon 24 JUNE – Ferropolis, Germany – Full Force 25 JUNE – Berlin, Germany – Urban Spree*
* with Statiqbloom ^co-headliner with Imperial Triumphant
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Well, the record came out. Author & Punisher‘s Krüller (review here) was released Feb. 11 on Relapse — as was foretold by the mysterious transient prophets of the PR wire — and I can only assume it’s been turning brains into goo in the less-than-a-week’s-time since. It continues to do such to me, anyhow. I feel like I can almost go a full day at this point without putting it on, and that’s since last month when the promo came through. The video below, for second track “Incinerator,” is no small part of what makes that an “almost” situation.
The clip, as you’ll see, is strobe-tastic, so if you’re sensitive to flashing lights, be aware. And the song — which it’s kind of funny to think is working off the same metaphor as Jefferson Starship‘s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” — runs through a litany of current happenings any number of which might be overwhelming when considered on their own, but taken together indeed feel like a kiln, pressure cooker, or anything else you might want to think of that burns, condenses, and ultimately destroys when left unchecked. “Incinerator” it is. Certainly there are enough fires around at any given point to make the argument, and as Author & Punisher‘s Tristan Shone is based in San Diego, the state of California’s permanent-wildfire-season strikes as particularly relevant here, though the lyrics also cover civil unrest, family separation, and human complicity in all of it.
Feelgood it ain’t, unless you’re counting expressive catharsis, which I am. You’ll see below that Author & Punisher have a slew of mostly-Euro tour dates announced and probably more to come, and if you haven’t heard the record yet, the full stream is at the bottom of the post. I think I’ll go ahead and put it on right now. Again. Because it’s fucking incredible.
Believe it:
Author & Punisher, “Incinerator” official video
Author & Punisher have released a video for “incincerator” as the San Diego-based outfit’s new album, Krüller, arrives via Relapse Records (https://orcd.co/authorandpunisher-kruller).
“’Incinerator’ is about outrage and urgency. The world is actually on fire,” offers Tristan Shone. “We are dealing with extreme conditions of a warming climate yet face brutal resistance by those who want to deflect our rage towards each other for their profit. Special thanks to Director Ansel Wallenfang and DP James Rexroad who worked tirelessly to translate this rage into a visual adventure/nightmare.”
Tour dates: March 6 Los Angeles, CA Resident March 8 Seattle, WA Clock Out Lounge March 9 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater (Lounge) March 10 Oakland, CA Elbo Room Jack London March 28 Warsaw, Poland Hydrozagadka March 29 Wroclaw, Poland Akademia March 30 Prague, Czech Republic Modra Vopice March 31 Bratislava, Slovakia Randal Club April 1 Zagreb, Croatia Mocvara April 2 Linz, Austria Kapu April 3 Luzern, Switzerland Sedel April 4 Milan, Italy Legend Club April 5 Montpellier, France The Black Sheep April 6 Barcelona, Spain Bóveda April 7 Toulouse, France L’Ecluse Saint Pieere April 9 Poitiers, France Le Confront Moderne April 11 Antwerp, Belgium Kavka April 13 Vilnius, Lithuania Gallery 1986 April 14 Riga, Latvia Melna Piektdiena April 15 Tallin, Estonia Sveeta Bar April 16 St. Petersburg, Russia Latochka April 17 Moscow, Russia Bumazhnaya Fabrika Mvtant opens March 28 to April 11
May 11 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad May 14 Austin, TX Elysium (Oblivion Access Festival) May 18 Denver, CO Hi-Dive May 19 Salt Lake City, UT Metro Music Hall May 20 Las Vegas, NV Backstage Bar May 22 San Diego, CA Casbah
w/Perturbator & Health: October 6 Lille, France Aeronef October 7 Paris, France L’Olympia October 12 Bordeaux, France Krakatoa October 13 Toulouse, France Bikini October 14 Madrid, Spain La Riviera October 15 Barcelona, Spain Razzmatazz 2 October 16 Nantes, France Stereolux October 18 Lyon, France Le Transbordeux October 19 Strasbourg, France La Laiterie October 20 Lausanne, Switzerland Les Docks October 21 Munich, Germany Freiheiz October 22 Vienna, Austria, Arena October 23 Budapest, Hungary Akvarium Nagyhall October 25 Prague, Czech Republic Lucerna Music October 26 Wroclaw, Poland Zaklete Rewiry October 27 Warsaw, Poland Progresja October 28 Berlin, Germany Heimathafen October 29 Göthenburg, Sweden Trädgår’n October 30 Stockholm, Sweden Berns November 1 Helsinki, Finland Tavastia November 3 Oslo, Norway Vulkan Arena November 4 Copenhagen, Denmark Pumpehuset November 5 Hamburg, Germany Uebel & Gefährlich November 6 Utrecht, Netherlands Tivoli November 8 Cologne, Germany Kantine November 9 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Rockhal November 10 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
Posted in Reviews on February 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Safe to say the world has not grown less dystopian since Tristan Shone, otherwise known as the auteur of industrial doom forebear outfit Author & Punisher, last released an LP. The eight-song/52-minute Krüller, Author & Punisher‘s second full-length for Relapse Records and upwards of seventh overall depending on who counts what as what, wholly and on multiple levels confronts the time and place of its creation, operating in a swath of voices from the post-apocalyptic vigilante of “Centurion” to the subversive gender play of the Portishead cover “Glorybox” and the menacing narrator of “Incinerator” who sees not only the rising temperatures and waters of man-made climate change but the everyday horrors of police brutality, the separation and detention of immigrant families, and the overwhelming sensory onslaught of the media sphere, the latter channeled also through the dance freneticism of Shone‘s collaboration with producer Jason “Vytear” Begin on the penultimate “Blacksmith,” which accounts lyrically for a myriad of losses in a voice less judgmental than also-mourning. Much as there’s condemnation to go around, there’s also an abundance of sadness.
Some love, too, particularly on “Maiden Star,” and all of this refined focus on lyrics comes filtered through the vast, sometimes harsh, dense-gravity futurist sci-fi noisescape that along with his machination-based live presentation has made Author & Punisher the most influential purveyor of industrial music since Nine Inch Nails a generation (and then some) ago. Those who came aboard with 2018’s more outwardly aggressive Beastland (discussed here) will note some distinct shifts in approach. Shone, still seemingly able to make electronic beats sound ‘heavier’ in the doomed sense of the word — i.e. weighted low end tonality, manifest in drone and slamming impacts sounding like they were tipped off by mid/late-’90s Meshuggah — makes what feels like a conscious decision to incorporate more guitar, with parts written by Phil Sgrosso of Apathian and As I Lay Dying (Doug Sabolik of Ecstatic Vision will play live), as well as melodic vocals from Shone himself and, on the aforementioned “Maiden Star,” from his wife, Marilia Maschion.
‘Clean’ singing as opposed to barking shouts, screams, etc., is a longstanding part of Shone‘s repertoire, and featured throughout the 2018 album too, but it’s a matter of adjusting priorities, and Krüller is easily the most melodic and complex work he has done vocally. There are hints, as in the beginning of “Incinerator” or “Blacksmith,” or even the post-intro verse of the title-track, that brush up against goth dramaturge in the delivery, and perhaps a bit of nostalgia in “Incinerator” as a past is mourned: “I think back/We survived on much less/A place lost/a dead wind/The smell of our flesh,” with the last of those lines subsumed in the swell of volume that takes hold. Still, the overarching mood of the record is dark and plenty challenging and the angriest parts of “Misery,” “Incinerator,” “Centurion” and the closing title-track more than live up to the ethos of authorial punishment. Again, it is a balance that has been retooled. The vocals enhance the lyrics — and admittedly, the “refined focus” noted above may be due in part to the listener’s ability to discern what’s being said — and the lyrics act in kind.
It is early to make any such declarations, but Krüller is enough of an innovation for Author & Punisher — songwriting, performance, production, overall range of style — to be both a landmark for Shone as well as one of the year’s highlight studio achievements. That is to say, a contender for album of the year, with the obvious caveat of a lot of year to go. These songs are memorable unto themselves, but feed into the complete ambience that is first laid out in the eight-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Drone Carrying Dread,” in which every detail seems to matter and yet what all the details create is a floodlight of melody and atmosphere shining in your eyes through a chain link fence. When 2022 is done, Krüller will be one of its finest achievements.
No doubt the leadoff was chosen as the first single from the record (“Maiden Star” being the second supports this idea as well) in part to signal to Author & Punisher‘s audience some of the differences between Krüller and Beastland or, say, 2015’s Melk En Honig, which had plenty clean parts of its own, and the subsequent Pressure Mine EP worked off a balance not unlike Krüller, but with nowhere near the same production value here, but it also serves as an invaluable introduction to the world depicted in the material that follows. Without “Drone Carrying Dread” at the front, no doubt the lines “We wake up/We fall down/We break in/We face up/We crawl down/We wade in,” from the subsequent “Incinerator” would still be a standout hook, but the context in which they arrive would be missing. While it’s not as immediate as “Centurion” or “Misery” or “Maiden Star,” “Drone Carrying Dread” needs to be where it is for Krüller to function as it does. It’s the backstory and the setting in which the rest of the album’s story takes place, right down to the New Wave-y dream synth that “Maiden Star” echoes later on, seeming to blend that with the intensity of its beat, drawn from “Incinerator” and defying expectation at once.
Much has been and likely will continue to be made of the guest spots throughout Krüller, with Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey of pre-pandemic Author & Punisher tourmates Tool respectively adding bass to “Centurion” and drums to “Misery.” I won’t minimize the hi-hat and metal-snare ting on “Misery,” which is the shortest inclusion at 4:56 and arguably the most danceable, or the abiding thickness of “Centurion” that Shone seems to match in the chorus lines, ” Wait for the siege/Reborn centurion/American legion/Forlorn centurion,” by pushing his voice to a lower register — the second chorus of that song swaps “American legion” for “American lesion,” lest anyone doubt the critique at work on cartoonish manhood, the 2021 attempted overthrow of the US government, etc. — but even with the profile of those appearances, neither has as much affect in showcasing the expansion of Author & Punisher‘s reach as the prominence of Sgrosso‘s guitar or the three-dimensional-feeling layering between Shone and Maschion on “Maiden Star.” Whatever one might want to say about the incorporation of “organic” instrumentation in industrial music, it’s nothing new, and this material is powerful, consuming and as crushing as it wants to be regardless. As the first beats of “Krüller” itself take hold and Shone commands “Bow down to it,” there seems to be little option otherwise.
That is a particularly masculine idea of dominance, and it speaks to the engagement with gender and sexuality throughout the album. Even the structure of lyrics in “Krüller” that talk about holding up a truck that “pulls to the right” follow a sort of post-Hemingway speech pattern, in marked contrast to “Glorybox” earlier, the Portishead track on which “I just want to be a woman” and “Give me a reason to love you” are repeatedly crooned. One is left to wonder if a man can exist in that space, in those lines originally delivered by Beth Gibbons on 1994’s Dummy, without acting as colonizer, but as the hammer falls in “Blacksmith” and the electronic chaos takes hold ahead of the finale, there’s barely a second for the thought before it’s wiped away like, seemingly, everything else. If “Krüller,” then, is the aftermath of the album that shares its name, its initially Godfleshian opening is quickly broadened through its procession of verses (an Anne Rice reference tossed in for good measure) headed to the chorus that answers the ardent energy of “Glorybox” with an undercurrent of addiction malevolence, slow hip-hop cadence, brutal pounding and tension building all the while, likewise furious and methodical.
And in the ending, echoing some of the earlier goth-ness — many things sound like Type O Negative to me lately, the “whoa-oh”s at the finish of “Krüller” and some of the earlier vocals fit that bill as well — Shone moves from arguably the record’s most engrossing wash to an acid-test sample in which a woman, thoroughly dosed, tells her interviewer “I feel sorry for you.” These are the last words on Krüller, and they complete not only a picture begun earlier on the album’s expanse, but the sense of mourning that pervades so much of even the most bitter stretches throughout. If this era is to be defined by what’s been lost on individual as well as macro sociopolitical levels and what’s been gained and by whom, then Author & Punisher engages the moment with an unparalleled depth of craft, guiding the listener masterfully through each visionary piece that enriches the whole. Someone should put it in a time capsule so the future can know what it was like to be alive at the start of the 2020s. Recommended.
Author & Punisher, Krüller (2022)
Author & Punisher, “Maiden Star”
Author & Punisher, “Drone Carrying Dread” official video
Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The new Author & Punisher full-length, Krüller, is due Feb. 11 on Relapse and if 2022 ended today, it’d be my album of the year. Of course, 2022 doesn’t end today, but still. I had a review up for about 45 minutes this morning that was too early, but yeah, without delving into spoilers I guess, it’s a powerful record and the second single from it, “Maiden Star,” helps to show the uptick in melody that’s a big part of why.
Tristan Shone, the founding spearhead of the project, noted in the album’s announcement that he was looking to enact some kind of clarity in sound, which, given that the record was written over the course of post-pandemic 2020 doesn’t seem out of line as far as impulses go. “Maiden Star” is about as outwardly melodic as Krüller gets, and features a guest appearance from Marilia Maschion on backing vocals, who also happens to be Shone‘s wife.
“Maiden Star” follows and builds on the breadth of the first single “Drone Carrying Dread,” and I think you can hear some direct interaction between the two tracks in the use of dreamy, higher-floating synth notes as well. Here, those seem to willfully clash with hard-landing beats — also an Author & Punisher staple — that also draw from other material on the record. Or so I said in the review anyhow. I’ll post that in a couple weeks. Not looking to make trouble in the meantime.
Enjoy this, though. The album is something special.
Author & Punisher, “Maiden Star”
Author & Punisher unveil a second track from the outfit’s highly-anticipated new album, Krüller (Feb. 11, Relapse Records), with today’s release of the drone-drenched love song, “Maiden Star”.
Tristan Shone offers insight into the track and its place on the album: “’Maiden Star’ continues the trudge of escape and survival from ‘Drone Carrying Dread,’ but with a focus on the vital interpersonal conflicts and triumphs that exist in times of war and peace. This track, my personal favorite from the balance of the heavy and the melodic, is deeply personal and painful at the same time. The first note both lifts me up and beats the shit out of me.”
Krüller pre-orders are available now (https://orcd.co/authorandpunisher-kruller) with the 52-minute collection available on a selection of limited-edition vinyl variants that tie into the color palette of the album artwork, CD, cassette and digitally.
Author & Punisher has announced two rounds of 2022 European tour dates with a pair of North American performances slated for March.
Headlining dates: February 7 Tallin, Estonia Sveta Bar February 8 Riga, Latvia Melna Piektdiena February 9 Vilnius, Lithuania XI 20 February 13 Antwerp, Belgium Kavka February 14 Brighton, UK Patterns February 15 London, UK The Underworld February 16 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club February 17 Glasgow, UK Stereo February 18 Newcastle, UK Cluny February 19 Birmingham, UK Castle and Falcon February 20 Bristol, UK Fleece February 21 Manchester, UK Deaf Institute
March 6 Los Angeles, CA Resident March 10 Oakland, CA Elbo Room Jack London
w/ Perturbator and Health: October 6 Lille, France Aeronef October 7 Paris, France L’Olympia October 12 Bordeaux, France Krakatoa October 13 Toulouse, France Bikini October 14 Madrid, Spain La Riviera October 15 Barcelona, Spain Razzmatazz 2 October 16 Nantes, France Stereolux October 18 Lyon, France Le Transbordeur October 19 Strasbourg, France La Laiterie Oxtober 20 Lausanne, Switzerland Les Docks October 21 Munich, Germany Freheiz October 22 Vienna, Austria Arena October 23 Budapest, Hungary Akvarium Nagyhall October 25 Prague, Czech Republic Lucerna Music October 26 Wroclaw, Poland Zaklete Rewiry October 27 Warsaw, Poland Progresja October 28 Berlin, Germany Heimathafen October 29 Goteborg, Sweden Tradgar N October 30 Stockholm, Sweden Berns November 1 Helsinki, Finland Tavastia November 3 Oslo, Norway Vulkan Arena November 4 Copenhagen, Denmark Pumpehuset November 5 Hamburg, Germany Uebel & Gefahrlich November 6 Utrecht, Netherlands Tivoli November 8 Cologne, Germany Kantine November 9 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxermbourg Rockhall November 10 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
Author & Punisher, Krüller (2022)
Author & Punisher, “Drone Carrying Dread” official video
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 7th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
San Diego industrial doom innovator Author & Punisher will release the new album, Krüller, on Feb. 11 through Relapse Records. The solo outfit of Tristan Shone joins a crowded early-2022 sphere of outings, and he arrives with new machinations and new collaborations, as you can see detailed below. For those who would consume or otherwise be consumed by the follow-up to Author & Punisher‘s 2018 album, Beastland (discussed here), the new single “Drone Carrying Dread” brings an eight-minute introduction to the scope of Krüller, answering questions as to what depths Shone might conjure on the new release as well as the band’s overarching sonic progression and ongoing interplay between melodic resonance and rhythmic impact. A lot has happened in the world since 2018, and Beastland was a soundtrack for its time. Krüller‘s announcement brings immediately high expectations.
From the PR wire:
Author & Punisher – Krüller
AUTHOR & PUNISHER has returned with a mind-blowing new album in Krüller.
Wielding upgraded machines, a new sensory stratagem, and a crafty curation of top-tier collaborators, proprietor Tristan Shone emerged from the time off refined and re-tooled. Krüller is hoisted defiantly on breakouts “Incinerator,” “Drone Carrying Dread,” “Maiden Star,” but menaces profoundly on “Blacksmith,” “Centurion,” and the title track. These are anthems for the decay and self-absorption of today.
AUTHOR & PUNISHER’s unconventional yet assiduous methods with music and machine have landed critically acclaimed collaborations with many artists, including Perturbator’s James Kent, and Tool’s Danny Carey and Justin Chancellor, who appear on Krüller tracks “Misery” and “Centurion,” respectively.
To celebrate and invite musicians and creators into his visceral and tactile world, AUTHOR & PUNISHER is also launching a bespoke audio gear company called Drone Machines to coincide with the release of Krüller. The gear company launch follows nearly two decades of AUTHOR & PUNISHER honing in on his craft – meticulously inventing, machining, experimenting, and creating custom musical instruments for his incredible live performances and recordings.
Tracklisting: 1. Drone Carrying Dread 2. Incinerator 3. Centurion 4. Maiden Star 5. Misery 6. Glorybox 7. Blacksmith 8. Krüller
