Author & Punisher – Nocturnal Birding

RELEASE YEAR: 2025
BAND URL: https://authorandpunisher.bandcamp.com/album/nocturnal-birding

The talented sonic sculptor Tristan Shone never ceases to amaze this scribe and few out there are better at crafting intensely heavy, claustrophobic soundscapes of the gritty industrial variety than said artist is.

Author & Punisher has been at it for twenty-something years, but Nocturnal Birding may in fact be Shone’s most potent, rewarding, and surprisingly catchy and accessible offering to date. There is absolutely nothing lightweight about its eight edgy and unsettling tracks, nor does it fail to convey a crushing sense of dread and overwhelm the listener with an engaging emotional heft, but it does flow better and more consistently from beginning to end than many of his previous outputs. The word “melodic” is not necessarily one that you would typically use in conjunction with Author & Punisher, but it nevertheless applies to this particular record and its frighteningly dark content with the song entitled “Mute Swan” being a great example of what I am trying to get across here. Should you wish to be pummeled to death then “Black Storm Petrel” has got you covered.

Superbly produced, otherworldly in sound and nature, and deeply moving in its own impassioned and inimitable way – Nocturnal Birding is simply astonishing in terms of style, tone, and execution.