author & punisher

After leaving a career as mechanical engineer in Boston [TRISTAN SHONE] left there for Southern California to focus on art and sculpture earning his MFA at UCSD (University of California San Diego). Shone, the creator and sole manipulator of Author & Punisher, combines his technical background in industry with conceptual sculpture to create what Wired Magazine hailed as his own “special brand of doom metal.”

Abandoning the typical guitar and drums set up, Author & Punisher makes aggressive rhythmic and oscillatory soundscapes. His instruments are inspired by his experience as an engineer where he utilized precision motion components designing robotic systemsfor high tech industries, most recently at a University lab using electron microscopy to analyze cells. Incorporating key functional elements into his designs, Shone builds intuitive relationships with the sound he is creating. The first of his sculptural sound machines were forged in the metal and machine shops of UCSD, ultimately yielding A&P’s first 3 albums and mapped the journey away from traditional instrumentation towards custom made, precision machinery that he calls Drone Machines, Dub Machines and now his series of electromechanical Masks. From the raw materials he utilizes he spawns all manners of wheels, throttles, pedals, and masks to manipulate sound live.

All aspects of the A&P sound begin with physical movement, limbs struggling in unison to coordinate a wall of electronic rhythm and oscillation. They are direct, physical, heavy experiences that have amassed praise and intrigue from a wide array of audiences. Each material interaction inside the machine as well as between man and machine is scrutinized to enhance the physical experience. Whether it is force feedback, waxed wood handles, linear bearings, textural coatings, proper weighting, industrial connections, homemade loudspeaker cabinets, all of these elements combine to produce and reflect the power and quality of the music Author & Punisher creates. Shone’s electromechanical arsenal and physical approach to live production has become to heavy music what Survival Research Laboratories was to live, unscripted performance art.

As experimental as Shone 's music seems at times, he has refined his sound with thick and pulsating high fidelity drone that seems to lay a sonic lead blanket waving over your core. It lingers only as long as it needs, regrouping and intensifying with pounding live rhythms and textural vocals. The sound builds up anxiously but always rewards the listener with a hint of hope through epic sonic releases, leaving you feeling exhausted but satisfied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UR3YjktJYI

repetitive stress injury waiting to happen right there i tell you what

I've been trying to like this guy for three or four years now, but as cool as the machines are, the music sounds like generic industrial doom that any schlub could make on a laptop. Maybe he's better live than on disc, like GWAR.

nah it’s pretty much the same live

but the machines are fucking awesome

live show is basically steampunk but I daresay I'd enjoy watching actual steampunk for 15 minutes or so too

Cecilia - Adoration (2018)

unperson?

Just now getting around to Kruller, the newest one, and I like it quite a bit. It's the first one to really grab me from this guy, there's more subtlety and more synths in the mix, might help that he's got more collaborators. Nice cover of Portishead's "Glorybox" too.