{"id":27980,"date":"2015-06-18T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=27980"},"modified":"2015-06-17T20:20:14","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T01:20:14","slug":"review-author-punisher-melk-en-honing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/review-author-punisher-melk-en-honing\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Author & Punisher \u2013 Melk En Honing<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The author of industrial intensity\u00a0returns\u00a0with a punishing\u00a0new album.
\n<\/p>\n

In music, it can be difficult to achieve a true “signature” sound. Many artists can work at it for decades and never truly rise above the level of generic\u00a0riff rehashers or bandwagon jumpers, at least in the eyes of listeners. Author & Punisher<\/strong>‘s sole member, Tristan Shone<\/strong>, has carved a unique niche for himself in extreme music by not only handcrafting his one-of-a-kind instruments that appear\u00a0ripped straight from the inner workings of an automated assembly plant, but by then by also performing his music live as a true one man band, complete with giant metal apparatuses and voice-changing masks.<\/p>\n

This is absolutely\u00a0for the best, because while A&P\u00a0delivers a thrumming, detonating\u00a0barrage of sound on a tectonic scale, there is never any doubt of the human element behind it all. This is raw, artistic expression nurtured\u00a0from the most basic of emotions and filtered through a hive mind of\u00a0a thousand\u00a0pounds of steel, messes of wires and a significant chunk of mechanical engineering know-how.<\/p>\n

\"A&P_02_small\"<\/p>\n

From the opening sounds of The Barge<\/em>, you won’t soon forget about that ‘mechanical’ part, as your first introduction to the album sounds\u00a0akin to\u00a0sitting inside\u00a0the treads of Bagger 288<\/a>\u00a0as car-sized rocks fall about and\u00a0leave craters in the softened earth. Your mind moves to thoughts of weight. Mass. Density. Inability to confront the scale of\u00a0heaviness on display.\u00a0Most songs sound as though\u00a0they can barely contain the sheer size of noise trying to cram its way through your speakers and into your head.<\/p>\n

Listen to Cauterize<\/em> and you can practically hear Meshuggah<\/strong>\u00a0five years from now as they experiment with triple\u00a0drop B tuning. Shame<\/em> is an absolute face-melter\u00a0with its\u00a0engine\u00a0block sledgehammer blows and static-drenched vocal stabs. Callous and Hoof<\/a> <\/em>is the\u00a0enthusiastic standout single of the album\u00a0\u2013 its ascending warbling synth line, crazy ‘guitar neck’ slides and chorus of “chaos reigns<\/a>”\u00a0creates the impression that you’ve raided the\u00a0id of the A&P machine\/man hybrid.<\/p>\n

\"A&P_03\"<\/p>\n

As a counterbalance to the heaviness of the\u00a0drone machines, the vocals carry a significant portion of the musical expression. Rest assured there is no lack of seething, accusatory shrieks and sneers from Shone, as well as some great\u00a0melodic lilting,\u00a0but there are surprising sections of (relative) levity that recall NIN<\/strong>‘s\u00a0<\/strong>more introspective\u00a0tracks\u00a0\u2013 the piano interlude on Shame<\/em>\u00a0and the entirety of Future Man<\/em>, for example.<\/p>\n

Shone and producer Phil Anselmo<\/strong> applied a structural sensibility to the album that allows each song space to churn forward with as much tonnage as it requires, while sticking to a rough-hewn verse\/chorus guideline (some of the time, anyway) in order to not push the listener too far off the edge of the cliff into experimental noise ramblings. The result is eight well-chosen tracks that perfectly reflect the machines used to create them: heavy as hell, capable of a vast range of musical expression, coated in a patchy sheen of rust and overdrive, and ideally suited to the needs of its mastermind.<\/p>\n

\"A&P_04_small\"<\/p>\n

As a listener, the only criticism I have overall is that the songs can run a bit long at times \u2013 this is not to say that song lengths are padded or that any one of the eight tracks are filler, but after minute five or six, everything is said that needs to be said and you’re ready for the next assault\u00a0to kick in. However, don’t let that deter you from checking this album out.\u00a0You need more\u00a0Melk En Honing<\/em> in your diet. Pick it up\u00a0at the end of the month and be your own punisher.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1\/5\u00a0FLUSHES<\/h1>\n

\"1_flush\"<\/p>\n

fewer flushes = good<\/span><\/p>\n

——————–<\/p>\n

Melk En Honing<\/em> is available June 30th<\/strong> via Housecore Records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(images\u00a0via<\/a>\u00a0via<\/a>\u00a0via<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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