Prog-metal titans Tool are currently on the road behind their record-setting album Fear Inoculum, joined by U.K. industrial-metal and post-punk pioneers Killing Joke playing in support. Maynard James Keenan and Co. recently added another leg to their North American tour, spanning from January 10th in San Diego, California, to February 1st in New Orleans, and the opener for those dates is a particularly eclectic and crushing one: one-man industrial-doom band Author & Punisher. Formed in 2004 by San Diego, California, mechanical engineer and artist Tristan Shone, the project is notable not only for its abrasive, eardrum-punishing music but also for the fact that most of the instruments and controllers used in creating the music are custom designed and fabricated by Shone from raw materials and with open source electronic circuitry. Author & Punisher have earned big-name fans over the last 15 years, including Pantera’s Philip Anselmo, who released the band’s 2015 and 2017 albums, Melk En Honing and Pressure Mine, respectively, on his label Housecore. Author & Punisher’s most recent album, Beastland, was released via Relapse Records last year.
“This is a huge honor that I don’t take lightly,” Shone said of being handpicked for the Tool shows. “I don’t always get to take the full arsenal of drone machines due to their weight and pain but certainly on this run, everything is in play. I love you all and I’m sorry for future back pain and inevitable hearing loss.”
If you’re not familiar with Author & Punisher, catch up with them via the Noisey doc and “Nihil Strength” music video below.
Industrial mastermind @authorpunisher will open for @Tool early next year in January/February! pic.twitter.com/etTsdOfqxQ
— Relapse Records (@RelapseRecords) November 18, 2019
Tool 2020 t0ur dates with Author & Punisher:
01/10 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
01/12 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
01/15 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
01/17 Las Vegas, NV T-Mobile Arena
01/18 Glendale, AZ Gila River Arena
01/21 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
01/22 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
01/28 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
01/29 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
01/31 Memphis, TN FedEx Forum
02/01 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
