Author & Punisher announces new album and shares video single

After celebrating 20 years since the inception of AUTHOR & PUNISHER in 2024, founding composer, vocalist and mechanical engineer Tristan Shone embraces the project’s broadest scope to-date with Nocturnal Birding.

Tristan Shone comments on the new album: 

“When I sat down to start writing this album, I knew I wanted to make songs based on birdsong. The actual first guitar riff is one of the meadowlark’s songs. When you listen to ‘Rook,’ that melody is the rook’s sound. That track is us mimicking one of the rooks’ many songs. I wrote all my tracks around the rhythms and melodies of birds I researched or heard in the wild.”

Now, Author & Punisher shares the official video for Nocturnal Birding’s lead single “Titanis”. The video was filmed this past Summer in Bali, Indonesia live with Kuntari who performed on the studio recording of “Titanis”. Directed by Manda Selena and Ican Harem. Watch on the Relapse YouTube Channel HERE.

Kuntari comment on the creation of the “Titanis” video: 

“its hard to imagine the organic local sequence from us blend with monstrous industrial sound from Tristan. After many hours of discussion we instantly clicked and agreed where the song ended up. The results are beyond our imagination, Tristan easily fluids into fresh territory and we don’t have a border to break to. By far this is one of the most awe inspiring experience for us, not to mention our video production which is insanely epic and hilarious at the same time. The most memorable moment is we share a good laugh along the process”

Nocturnal Birding is out October 3 on LP/CD/Streaming via Relapse Records. Pre-Order via Relape.com HERE & Pre-Save / Listen HERE.

As stated in the album’s credits, Nocturnal Birding is “dedicated to those who have lost their lives traveling across the border from Mexico to the USA through a cruel policy of prevention by deterrence. This land is not ours to hold onto nor was it ours to take.” 

Tristan Shone has welcomed collaborators in the past, but guitarist Doug Sabolick (Ecstatic Vision, Plaque Marks, A Life Once Lost, etc.) is the first genuine bandmate in Author & Punisher contributing creatively on guitar in ways that shape the persona of Nocturnal Birding, complementing Shone in melody and wrought tonal heft.

In addition to the strong and poignant messaging contained throughout the music, lyrics and artwork, Nocturnal Birding sees Tristan Shone synergizing with an array of artists from across the globe like never before in his career. From the artwork, meticulously designed by French artist Lucile Lejoly (Chat Pile, Roadburn Festival) to the mixing and mastering by Will Putney (Knocked Loose, Heriot, Body Count, Machine Head) to the musical guest appearances from France’s Fange, Indonesia’s Kuntari, and New York City’s Megan Oztrosits of Couch Slut, these outer creative inputs shine throughout the work. 

Shone continues about the new album, 

“I’ve been doing my waterdrop work, which has been eye-opening for me. Border Angels is a group that drops water along the US/Mexico border. Two years ago, they opened up for volunteers again and I got to go out on a hike with them. I was out in Jacumba where I started doing hikes once a month, dropping water and getting to know some people, and I’ve been doing it ever since. It was very humbling and there was always this soundtrack of the birds out there through different seasons. For me it was an awakening: my eyes and ears were open to nature and this cruel and unnecessary humanitarian crisis at the border.”

Removing himself from an artistic comfort zone proved fruitful inspiration. There is literal birdsong all over Nocturnal Birding, and transposing those melodies and rhythms to guitar became the root of the material, representing a rare coming together of the natural world and mechanized sounds.

Author & Punisher tourdates:

Author & Punisher formed in January 2004 as the brainchild of mechanical engineer, artist and sculptor Tristan Shone. His innovation, and the unique way he has melded his seemingly disparate background, has been highlighted in a wide range of outlets, from Wired Magazine who dubbed him a “doom metal auteur,” to Pitchfork who noted he “literalized the idea of sound sculpture.” He has released eight full-length albums and an EP over the years: The Painted Army (2005), Warcry (2007), Drone Machines (2010), Ursus Americanus (2012), Women & Children (2013), Melk En Honing (2015), Pressure Mine EP (2017), Beastland (2018) & Krüller (2022).