Author & Punisher : "Beastland"

There is a more metallic nastiness to the rasp of shore’s voice on the verses of the opener. He does alternate into a more Skinny Puppy like sing song cadence. His machines create a dense throb that is rough around it’s over blown edges. Intense and abrasive are two words that best fit the first song. “Nihil Strength” was the first song I heard going into the album and it is also more metallic in it’s intent though, Shore is sticking to his self made devices of torture to temper his sonic sadism. The beat to this one relaxes a little more than the first song with other layers of melody winding around it. The beat is more of the booming pulse with only other noises replicating what drums would do on say the hi-hat.

 He sings with actual melody on “Ode to Bedlam” . This one dials the intensity back, but there was not any where to go from there. Even with more melodic touches they throb until the songs collides into a wall of noise that is plunged underwater. “The Speaker is Systematically blown” is not as abrasive as it’s title might hint. Instead it has more of a Neurosis like snarl, before the sung vocal hook comes in. The song has slightly more dynamic shift than the songs preceding. The beat to “Nazerene” has a bigger darker thump to it that recalls more of this project’s earlier work, though more attention is giving to the vocals . “Apparition” merges the newer blown out distorted drone of what Shore is doing now with the more electronic pound that marked his earlier stuff.

 There is a balance of melody and pounding on “Night Terror”. This balance also lends itself to a better range of dynamics. The varied layers of sound that are woven in work really well and make this one of the album’s strongest songs. There is more of an organic sound going into the title track that closes out the album. The beat created here is pretty massive, with a cyber Bonham thump. The vocals float into the song in a manner that reminds me a little of Burton C Bell’s cleanly sung chants. Overall this album is really strong. It is certainly one of this projects heavier releases. I’ll give it a 9.5 as it sits well against his other five albums.