Author & Punisher - Melk en Honing (2015)^{Release ID: 3294}

As I continue my non-linear narrative with Author & Punisher I find more and more textures being applied with each release I consume.  This eight track release from 2015 being now the fourth album from Shone's discography feels a lot more contemplative and deep than other outings I have witnessed.  Not that any of these reflective and pondering aspects are done at the expense of sheer banging intensity mind you, more that the album itself feels like a congruent entity, that the tracks all belong together.  

The realm of industrial metal isn't the most vast in terms of scope (not that I pretend to be an expert on the genre) but what Melk en Honing has in abundance is attitude to amplify its use of industrial music.  It is a record that clearly has something to say and uses all the mood and intensity over its fifty-three minute length to great effect.  Tracks build consistently, instead of relying on just raw throbbing and racing pulses coupled with pounding and looping percussive assaults to force you into submission.  There's a real sense of accomplishment to the progression of tracks, like they have been written thoughtfully and real attention paid to detail.  None of this quality control makes for a dull or boring record; quite the opposite this has an emotional yet calculated delivery and a real sense of connection with Shone himself.

In its more harsh and abrasive moments Melk en Honing is scarring and uncomprehending yet in the throes of building tracks it is explosive and compelling at the same time.  Like the rampant scribing of a Richter Scale machine in a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, music jabs across the page in sharp and violent surges, blunted by low-end bass lines that swell beneath the build of trajectory.

It feels like there's more vocal content here this time around and again this is well-balanced in the overall mix.  The vocals hold some horrific semblance of tune played deliberately slowly to add an alien ethereality to them that is probably the main take from the record that stays with me post-listening.  Tristan Shone continues to impress as I explore his discography in my albeit scattergun approach that I take.