Author & Punisher: Every Bit As Captivating Live as on Record

On Sunday night I went to see Author & Punisher — former-engineering-and-robotics-student-turned-one-man-band Tristan Shone — perform at The Acheron in Brooklyn. I was curious what Shone’s live show would be like, whatwith the custom-fashioned hunks of metal and birds nests of wires he uses as instruments.

The show was every bit as fascinating as I’d hoped it would be. A horde of nerdy men, myself included, huddled at the front of the stage to watch Shone set up all his gear, inspecting the horse-mounted machinery, laptop and jumble of cables trying to figure out what the fuck his gear even is and what it all does. I still don’t really know. The music was extremely loud, bass-heavy, powerful and industrial, calling to mind Godflesh-gone-‘Roidal. Shone’s smoke machine and barebones light show added to the ambiance and absolutely increased the intensity level of the performance.

This Metal Injection footage doesn’t quite do the show justice — the room was very dark, which made for grainy footage — but it does capture the feel of what it was like to be there, transfixed and held helpless by the unrelenting wall of noise. That said, now that I’ve seen him once, I’m not sure I need to do so again, or at least not anytime soon; I get what it’s all about. Watch:

MetalSucks scribes Kip Wingerschmidt and Andy O’Connor both listed Author & Punisher’s Ursus Americanus as one of their favorite albums of 2012. Stream the entire album right here on Spotify.

Opener Helen Money was captivating as well. A solo cellist, Money cowers over a dozen or so looping and effects pedals as she bows and plucks dark, hypnotizing patterns on her cello and plays on top of samples of herself. Definitely worth checking out live if you get the chance.