Author & Punisher + Fange + Valborg

°°°INDUSTRIAL METAL KOMPLETTABRISS°°°

Einlass: 20 Uhr

Beginn: 21 Uhr

VVK 25€ // AK 30€

Mukke: AUTHOR & PUNISHER // FANGE // VALBORG

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. 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 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. 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.

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Since their formation in 2013 in Brittany, France, FANGE has consistently refined their abrasive, genre-defying sound. Initially rooted in sludge, early albums like Purge (2016) and Punir (2019) showcased a raw, unrelenting blend of death metal riffs, noisy textures and visceral vocals. Over time, the band switched to drum machines and amplified their noise/industrial influences, as seen on Pudeur, Poigne and Pantocrator (all three released during the pandemic), redefining their own rules of what punitive music could be. This evolution has been fueled by a mindset of permanent reinvention, merging oppressive wall of sounds with eerie, cold melodies —a matured vision reflected in their acclaimed later works, Privation (2023) and Perdition (2024). Over the past couple of years, FANGE has embarked on extensive European tours alongside extreme music mainstays such as Ulcerate, Imperial Triumphant, and Ken Mode. They've also appeared at renowned festivals such as Arctangent, Motocultor, or Mystic Festival, performing over 80 shows across Europe alongside a diverse array of heavy bands—ranging from shoegaze to metallic hardcore, noise rock to avant-garde extreme metal, cementing their reputation as a spectacular live act. Despite their touring schedule, the band maintains a prolific pace, channeling their creative effervescence by releasing new material on an annual basis.

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VALBORG were conceived in the German City of Bonn in 2002 and have always been willing to experiment, shift boundaries, and while always remaining true to their harsh and sinister musical core, the Germans have never stuck to one particular musical box while consciously avoiding to become trapped in a stylistic pigeon hole. As a result many stickers have been applied to their sound: doom, blackened death metal, industrial among others. On their new album entitled "Der Alte" ("The Old One"), VALBORG take a rather reductionist approach.

Their new tracks are deliberately kept short, making use of simple structures, brutal, while making use of extreme vocals and their trademark lambasting and relentless drum beat. Aided by LANTLOS-mastermind Markus Siegenhort, who took on all production roles, VALBORG have opted for a raw and unpolished sound that relies heavily on the guitars as all keyboards have been ditched on this album. Audible influences include all of the band's metal aspects but also add elements derived from punk and wave for example. The result of this simplification process are hard-hitting tracks that still maintain a dark cinematic quality and construct threatening nightmare scenarios within cosmic dimensions, which fits the Germans' lyrical themes that explore the maddening horrors awaiting in the abyss of outer space, xenomorphic manipulation and apocalyptic visions that are often referring to and sometimes taken from the canon of modern science fiction literature.