By Dave Guzda
The Industrial and Metal genres have had a long and stormy relationship. There have been many variations that blend them in different proportions. Both genres are intense, loud and in your face... the pairing has always made sense to me. However getting the portions right is as challenging as mixing Aunt Jourgensen's award winning pecan pie. Occasionally however the blend is bang on. Tristan Shone's one man show known as Author & Punisher comes damn close to mixing the perfect blend of thick droning guitar with dark atmospheric sounds, violent percussion and ominous vocals. Author & Punisher hits like a flaming 18 wheeler careening down a collapsing mountain highway in an avalanche of apoplectic fire breathing Komodo dragons with nasty paper cuts. The material on Women & Children is intense and soul crushing.
The music reminds me of the rare power heard with some of Devin Townsend's projects. The first track 'Women & Children' seeps in and slowly begins unloading its arsenal of noise, chaos and percussion. The drone of guitar always lingering in the background. The heavily treated vocals are deep within the mix and have a tragic and eerie sci-fi essence to them. Screams, echoing voices and chants assault the listener like a hundred isolated vocal tracks from an early Skinny Puppy album. The next track 'In Remorse' conjures the demonic soul of Godflesh. The weighty drone is simply majestic and Shone creates some devastating melodies to accompany it. After the 'In Remorse' bludgeoning you are hit with the evocative song 'Melee'. The track's opening is sinister, like getting stalked by a black panther in a lost corner of a jungle. 'Melee' develops into a huffing, puffing, grinding, screeching, belching black smoke into the air train ride into the abyss. Hold on tight and keep your arms inside the vehicle; you have been warned. Author & Punisher then tease you with some piano, which seems out of place beside the bleakness of the drone and strained vocals on 'Tame as a Lion'. The track rolls along then suddenly thunderous percussion drops like a nightmarish beat pounding from the depths of Isengard. The vocals sporadically sound like ferocious growling and the menacing background sounds seem like they are about to swallow the track. Tame as a Lion indeed.
Each track takes the listener down a new and equally twisted path of blustering noise, resonant drone and wrathful fury. The next stop puts the fear in 'Fearce'. The highlight is Shone's vociferous chanting of "Fierce! Fierce! Fierce!" which is deeply unsettling. If that wasn't enough Shone simultaneously fires off his massive drone cannons accompanied by rapid fire percussion. There is a slight reprieve from the tumult as some synth briefly fades in. Phew.
More synth radiates from the next track 'Miles from Home'. The song has an epic Blade Runner-esque vibe to it. The synth sounds pained and deeply encumbered under the heft of Author & Punisher's drone. Curiously the track still appears brighter beside the rest of the material on the album. Women & Children ends with the track 'Pain Myself' which starts with some gentle piano and Shone's clean coherent vocals. It seems optimistic... for about 70 seconds. Then dark droning clouds appear overhead and everything goes mental and flames into another A&P musical inferno. 'Pain Myself' bounces between the soft piano and unleashing of maleficent musical thunder and lightning. The pain is certainly palpable with the slamming percussion, grim, gritty tone of the drone and Shone's vocals as change becoming distressed and ugly. It seems like Shone is exorcising some personal demons on this profound sounding song. A moving and impressive track.
If you doubt the potential of merging Industrial with Drone Metal you must check this release out. Tristan Shone has made me a believer. Metal contributes the persistent growl of the droning guitar, which is the heart of most of Author & Punisher's material. Industrial brings foreboding atmospheres, earsplitting percussion and the harrowed vocals. Shone blends these elements to create a brilliant cacophony of textures while maintaining melody and harsh beats. I don't know why the album is entitled Women & Children. It would make most children cry and give them nightmares...
P.S. Special thanks to Ryan Stephenson for passing this angry ball of hellfire along to me. Thanks bud.
