Official press release:
Relapse Records is proud to announce the official signing of one-man industrial metal force Author & Punisher. Formed in 2005 by Tristan Shone, creator and sole artist behind the project, Author & Punisher was appropriately named by Noisey as “one of the most prolific acts in aggressive music,” having released five full-lengths in a little over a decade.
Author & Punisher begins a new chapter this year with a self-released EP, Pressure Mine, which Shone describes as “dark and heavy, yet harnessed and restrained, with a focus on rhythm and deep full bass textures from all analog sound machines.”
In addition, Shone has just finished a new arsenal of sound machines called Gridiron which he will tour with and begin writing his next full-length for Relapse Records, due out in early 2018. The previous full length, Melk En Honing, released in 2015, via Housecore Records was listed among Decibel Magazine‘s Top 40 Albums Of 2015.
Tristan elaborated on the signing and his new machines:
“It’s an honor to join the the label that has been providing the soundtrack to most of my adult life. With a new gear arsenal and the backing of one of the kings of the underground, something special awaits. 2016 and 2017 have been very unique for Author & Punisher retooling mechanically and sonically. In the pipeline for years but only now coming to life, the latest machines, Gridiron, are made up of a number of reconfigurable manual/physical units, each intended to couple with a separate piece of analog gear, and give unique control over it. The force feedback from the interaction of machine components and materials, coupled with the integrity and quality of scrutinized analog sounds, is meaningful and powerful. Whether harshly rhythmic or dissonant, these are relatable in ways that programmed sequences often aren’t. This new exploration is an attempt to work with one foot within rhythmic framework of existing analog drum sequencing, while dragging a tire iron on the railroad spikes.”