Author and Punisher - Drone Machines

   Full Length, Heart & Crossbone Records

   2010

Geniuses are not born everyday. They are born under (un)divine arrangements and carry a planned mission of changing the mundane visions of this world. This man, Tristan Shone is one person who falls nothing short from being an astute genius. Now you may ask that what is so uncanny about him. Well, he definitely does look like a human being with two hands, two legs, two eyes but not just one brain! You would seriously think that after hearing his profoundly surreal project, suitably titled as – Author and Punisher. The sounds emanating from this seemingly abstract entity are alienistic (sic) and unbelievably heavy!

Stylistically, Author and Punisher’s ‘‘Drone Machines’‘ is an experimental industrial/doom/dub/drone/sludge album but these sounds aren’t created using any real bass, guitars or drums! Yes, there are no traditional instruments employed here AT ALL! Mr. Shone has given birth to a few avant-garde ‘‘machines’‘ to create the sounds of unfathomable misery and disgust. He sweetly calls his babies as ‘‘Drone Machines’‘ which is an apt title in my eyes. Now one would imagine that from where the hell on earth can someone think of such a bizarre concept! I was driven nuts, until I found out that Tristan is an esteemed ‘mechanical engineer’ who also happens to have an undying love for low end doom metal and industrial music. Apparently, these two parallels were nastily amalgamated by him to conceive an abhorrent progeny, which was absolutely transcendental in the literal sense.

The sounds here are generated by his creations such as the ‘‘Headgear’‘, which was created to provide an output to his lifelong habit of creating beat-boxing melodies and rhythms. Tristan has created an eight microphone device which allows him to trigger eight simultaneous sounds as well as output eight different channels of his voice into the computer/mixer. Now even before you proceed to shut your already awe struck mouth , read about his next invention – ‘‘The Linear Actuator’‘. It’s actually an open source drum trigger which is been used by him to generate the drum sound. Its controlled by a handle which is hit on two ends of this machine to generate the beats. An absolutely mighty invention!

His arsenal also boasts of more such eerie instruments like ‘‘Throttles’‘ – A dual pitch controller, ‘‘Bellows’‘ – A beat-box sampler/controller, ‘‘Rails’‘ – A manual rhythm controller, intended to be the sequencer or metronome of the performances, ‘‘Big Knobs’‘ and the ‘‘Rack and Pinion’‘. Read his official website to get a profound insight about these machines and their technicalities.

Phew! Sounds like a set up for a Sci-Fi flick isn’t it? This is the primal reason why I referred this project as alien-istic in my above paragraphs. But more significantly, it’s highly noteworthy of Mr. Shone to execute these phantasmagoric instrumentsof doom to cultivate a horrendous collection of deranged sounds which were only known to be created by traditional instruments earlier. He has taken suitable influences from the bombastic sounds of Swans and Godflesh and has juxtaposed them with a menacingly heavy droning tonality to unleash an absolutely nightmarish sound. His vocal variation boasts of hardcore shouts, to maniacal howls to subtle low end growls which work wonders in enhancing the vile atmosphere of ‘‘Drone Machines’‘.
The production on the album is exactly how it should be. Heavy and muddy as fuck!

These sonic torments are plainly disgusting and sick! I just can’t think of any other words for describing my listening experience at all. Such is the magnitude of its disgust that he music totally sucks in all energy and hope from within. All that is left is a psychic craving to get butchered repeatedly by the ghoulish charm of this album. Ultimately, I would simply quote that Tristan has achieved a mark for himself which only a few could imagine in their wretched lives. This gifted person has done something which can never be appealing in front of a puritanic audience albeit, there are a few souls who are going to be touched with his work of sonic and mechanical brilliance. If you fall amongst the latter, then please do yourself a favor by hearing his music right away!

This is a rare example of metallic machines creating metal music (not always metchul though) so you need to open up your rusted brains at least once and drown within the splendorous sounds-capes of Drone Machines.

8/10

   Official Site - http://www.tristanshone.com/

Utarm - Minus the Divine

Demo, Turgid Animal Records
2009

I have been on the lookout for the most fucked up music recently. Been constantly listening to a lot of sludge, drone and noise. This search finally led me to Utarm; a band from Norway, who label their style as ‘experimental black metal’. But I assure you, this is nothing like the other experimental bands that you have heard.

A lot of amazing things are happening in the underground black metal scene at the moment. Many amazing bands are being spawned with alarming regularity. Lot of brilliant releases which are destined to remain underground and unheard. And none more extreme than this release by Utarm. Minus The Divine is a follow-up to the brilliant full-length release, Mutilation Epoch

The album starts off with the amazing opener, ‘The Greatest Lie’. It gives you an idea of what to expect in the rest of the album. It starts off with a slight buzz with some ambience thrown in complimented by some whispered vocals creating an unsettling atmosphere. Just when you begin to settle in, the buzz grows louder and before you know it, you are suffocated by a wall of noise. This never lets up throughout the album and with every passing moment, you can feel yourself drifting deeper and deeper into a dark abyss. As unexpectedly as it began, the noise subsides and gives way to the next track ‘Knives, Veins and the God of Nothingness’. It’s a three minute long track with some screams over a disturbing, troubling piece of ambience. The third track is the title track. Definitely one of the best I have ever heard in this genre. Simple in its execution, it is evil and depressing. Some of the darkest music I have ever heard. The song is raw and never lets up. Pure emotional annihilation. The next track, ‘Flesh and Flames’ follows the same path. A fucked up mixture of drone, black metal and noise that threatens to destroy your senses.

This is not an easy release to listen to. It is not easy to grasp. My review probably doesn’t do enough justice to it. It has a nice raw and primitive sound, but packed with so much of emotion and energy. It reeks of desperation, despondency, hopelessness, anger and sadness. Every passing moment, you are pulled deeper and deeper into this abyss, this abyss from where it is virtually impossible to get out of. It is akin to drowning underwater with somebody holding your head down. It is an intense experience and will destroy every fabric of happiness and joy in your life.

This is not meant to be a casual listen. Listen to it with all of your attention and listen to the album as a whole. Only then will you be able to appreciate it. This is one experience you don’t want to miss.

Aderlating - dying of the light

EP.
Jan 2010
FREE DOWNLOAD ONLY: http://www.archive.org/details/dying_of_the_light

Aderlating is a project of Mories, the disturbed, twisted artist behind the overwhelming ‘Gnaw Their Tongues’ and ‘De Magia Veterum’. He has always been one to take extreme music to a new level with an exceptional catalog or original and diverse releases. So, when I heard about this project, I decided to check it out as soon as I could and try to keep my expectations as low as possible lest I be disappointed. But surely, Mories could do no wrong…right? RIGHT. What we have here is Mories delving into a gruesome and corrosive atmosphere with Aderlating playing a mixture of Black Noise, drone and black metal thrown in to create an oppressive environment of torture and vengeance.

The sound here is murky. Murky to the point where you feel its been submerged in a never-ending pit of murkiness, creating a pulse of ugly black noise. Buzzing black metal guitars are submerged into the blurred landscapes. You will find some heavy distorted bass which gives a harsh discordant, noisy tone. The drums are primitive and drive the music brilliantly. There is a section in the second song ‘Soul Harvest’ in which all you can hear is some dark ambiance, slow plodding riffs but fast and bizarre drums. Sounds peculiar and very different and pretty much depicts the madness of the artist. The vocals range from high torturous screams to some mysterious chanting and outright creepy voices. They complement the claustrophobic and the torturous sound of the music perfectly and at times, even add a sense of dread to the overall sound. The synths are stunning. Depicting pain and torture, they are used to awaken fear, psychosis and the agony that has been lodged deep beneath the human soul.

The music here is aimed at total emotional obliteration. You are immediately transported into the mind of a maniacal, unstable individual devoid of reason or logic. You can experience a plethora of emotions ranging from fear to misery. It grabs the attention of the listener. There is never a moment when the listener would be able to draw his breath over a long period of time. Never a moment where he would be calm. This is the total darkness. Highly recommended to people who like chaotic black metal, noise or dark ambient music.