January 2023 Feature Release - The Sphere Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Sphere has been nominated by myself. It's last year's "Krüller" seventh album from US industrial metallers Author & Punisher, a band that seems to have picked up a fair bit of love in these parts but I'm yet to explore in much detail. I suspect that this album might be a strong contender to take out our 2022 "The Sphere" Clan Release of the Year award so I'd encourage everyone to check it out & have their say on it's merits.

https://metal.academy/releases/34474

I had this in my top 9 releases of 2022.  My review below.

In niche sub-genres such as drone metal and industrial metal the ideal scenario for me is to have a go-to artist I can really rely on. I cannot say that I listen to much of anyone else in either genre and so the assured and emotional consistency of Tristan Shone's output in Author & Punisher is a real bonus for me in a world of thousands of artists and much less time than needed to fully explore many of them. As time has gone on I have discovered two main themes in his work. Firstly, he gets better with every release. The maturity he is now able to exhibit on Krüller is just so confident that it is obvious in every track on the album; his experience over each passing year and release simply makes him better. Secondly, as time has gone by I have ceased to be astonished by just his incredible ability to make all manner of alien and horrifically atmospheric noises from whatever ungodly bit of tech he has made with his bare hands. I am now just as astonished by the emotional tautness of his output that stirs responses in me that I had not thought possible with this type of music.

At this point in his career, Shone is untouchable in terms of not needing to rely solely on the harsh, abrasive and heavy aspects of his music to get his message across. If there is anyone using textures better than he does on tracks like Incinerator then I damn well demand a recount! This track in particular is a rollercoaster that goes from broody and sultry onto anger and sadness before giving way to mental torture. Listen to this album through a couple of times and you will understand that Shone is able operate on multiple levels and can hammer home his message without the need for blunt force every time. Centurion relies on a subtle yet ever-present urgency to press home its threat. Maiden Star operates meanwhile in a whole separate stratosphere with dreamy melodies and blatant rock guitars as its main ingredients.

Whereas previous A&P releases lacked range, on Krüller this is not a problem that is even on the horizon. Without having to go avant-garde or just plain old wacky, album number nine just delivers on every level. The drone elements are stable without being excessive and the industrial elements play as influences (albeit big influences) that do not rule the roost as such yet the album is still so very industrial at its core but feels so open and varied without disrupting the sense of balance that permeates the record. The cover of Glorybox by Portishead feels like a huge moment for the album and indeed Shone's career itself. Taking the elements that make it such a brilliant piece of dreamy trip-hop in the first place, A&P manages to elevate this with his trademark droning, industrial intensity whilst still capturing the heartfelt message at the centre of the track.

Krüller is Tristan Shone at his best and is far and away his finest hour. Able to command enough respect at this stage to have Tool's Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey guest on the album, Shone can use his ever-growing confidence to allow his vocals to shine more as he (consciously) removed much of the trademark distortion that layered them in the past in favour of what to me is a more personal connection. One of the best finds of 2022 so far.

5/5

I did my review, here's its summary:

Author & Punisher is a solo project by Tristan Shone, reaching beyond the limits of his extreme mix of industrial metal and doom. He made his own instruments that would help him achieve all that's possible in extreme experimentation. His machinery and sound has continuously been refined from his raw earlier material to his deeper recent albums. His identity has evolved further with more nightmarish metal within his heart and mind... Different aspects fill up this offering, from the most devastating industrial doom to the less pleasant bits of electronica and shoegaze, and helping out in martial structures in a couple tracks are TOOL members bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey. Within the darkness is a brighter light that you need to find. Author & Punisher would take you on this powerful journey that is Kruller, before that destination....

3.5/5

Krüller is the first release I have heard from Author & Punisher and so I have no idea of the project's development arc throughout it's existence up to that point, other than what I have gleaned from other reviewers, who all seem to agree that this is an artist who is always improving. Well, Krüller certainly seems like a very polished and well put-together album for a solo industrial artist - I must admit I was dreading some kind of avant-garde noisescape that would send my head into a spin, but this is nothing of the sort. Most of the songs are far more melodic than I would have expected with the industrial effects being used to add a layer of atmosphere that is very effectively handled in the main. I personally can't hear where the drone metal element the tagging suggests is to be found as the majority of the tracks, when stripped back, contain very little drone. I would suggest the majority of the tracks have their roots in darkwave and gothic or alternative metal with the use of the industrial toolbox adding a hardness and alienation to the sound that may give the impression of a more extreme form of metal than is actually present here. Whilst this approach is by and large successful, it sometimes falls short, particularly on Blacksmith where it sounds to me like two different tracks are playing separately, a Swallow the Sun-like gothic lament and a Prodigy-inspired industrial dance track, the two not gelling together at all and just coming off like a complete mess to me and, after a couple of playthroughs, it has me reaching for the skip button at this point. Luckily Blacksmith is followed by the title track that rounds off the album and this is my favourite of those on offer, feeling like a heartfelt cry from the soul with the industrialised pounding adding to the melancholy atmosphere.

One aspect I haven't seen much around the discussion of this album is exactly how good a vocalist Tristan Shone is. I found his singing to be quite affecting at times and it's generally melancholy tone acts as a perfect counterpoint to the almost ever-present industrial pounding, serving to emphasise the humanity of his voice which, I would suggest, is the true heart of the album. The inclusion of a cover of the fantastic Glorybox by Portishead strengthens this claim, I think, and reinforces the impression of humanity's small daily triumphs in the face of an industrialised hegemony.

Generally speaking, I found this to be an interesting and surprisingly emotional album. I think there is far more to it than the obvious "gimmick" and although it is not always completely successful to my ears, I am glad it exists and I can hear why it has gained so many advocates over the past few months, even if I may not be the most ardent of them. Author & Punisher is definitely an artist whose future releases I will look out for to see how his sound develops moving forward.

4/5

Yeah, this was certainly a very solid & enjoyable record for me. I can't say that I connect with it on the same level as some of you do but I appreciate it as a piece of art. The heart & soul that's been put into it is certainly impressive. What it lacks is the melodic hooks to take it to the elite level though in my opinion. For all his passion, I don't think that Tristan has a good enough voice to make any of these tracks genuine classics. Instead, I just find them to be densely orchestrated, well executed & quite ambitious works that hit the spot without ever ascending into the stratosphere. The Portishead cover was an interesting choice & I initially struggled with it a bit as the original is the best song from one of the greatest albums in my lifetime. This reworking took quite a few listens to draw me in but never to the extent of the original. The first half of the album is very strong & consistent. Unfortunately I think the tracklisting fades over the last couple of tracks, particularly the closing title track which sounds a bit sickly to me (particularly the chorus which I can't stand) & is the only song that I don't have time for. Besides that blemish though, I don't have too many qualms with this high quality industrial metal record.

4/5

P.S. If someone can point me in the direction of the drone metal on this release it'd be much appreciated. I can't identify any but suspect that it's being drawn from the power electronics influence & it's deep, farty electronic noises. There's certainly a strong gothic/doom metal component as well as electro-industrial. In fact, much of this material sounds like Type O Negative songs being covered by a power electronics artist to me.

Industrial metal always seems to be a fickle genre to get right. For a genre whose sole purpose is to sound mechanical, many artists in recent years have been unable to to get out of a habit of obliterating the listeners ears with unpleasant and overbearing percussion mixing that finds its way right to the front and drowns out whatever groove/texture/melody is being performed by the guitar, vocals or whatever other instrument.

Now this is around the time in my review where I typically namedrop Daughters' 2018 You Won't Get What You Want, but in this case, I realize that record has more than its share of overbearing percussion. So I'll instead refer to my 2021 album of the year, Frontierer's Oxidized with its unusual blending of industrial and crushing mathcore and how that percussive texture only elaborates instead of dominates. Author & Punisher have a very similar effect on Krüller, but this time the foundation is plainly doom.

And this record is superb. The slower tempos make this album foreboding in a way that is almost new to me. I do not know how Author & Punisher were able to get away with song structures and melodic motifs this sticky and with this much passion infused into them; it feels counterintuitive at times. The use of a true electronic percussion does drag some of this albums' intensity down, but it does get redeemed by some monotonous vocals that are direct from post-metal, and the aforementioned doom infused guitar lines.

Compositions are great in terms of scale. The album has a dark text and subtext, but the song "Maiden Star" sits right in the middle of the record and throws in some unusual, but very welcome major key harmonies as a quick divergence before plunging back into the abyss on "Misery". It does not feel out of place at all and in much the same way, the full on electronic interludes on "Blacksmith" and "Misery" feel very much at home, since they were prepared by what came before.

I was in the need for some hard hitting doom metal today and man did I get a ton of that here! This is wonderfully produced, performed and executed by all involved. It's a doom metal album for those looking to step outside of the comfy confines of My Dying Bride and Swallow the Sun, without diving head first into funeral doomers Esoteric or Bell Witch.

9/10