On October 28th, 2022, French synthwave wonders PERTURBATOR, with HEALTH and AUTHOR&PUNISHER, hit Der Heimathafen Neukölln in Berlin as part of their Excess Tour.
AUTHOR & PUNISHER is an experimental project by Tristan Shone from San Diego, California. He creates music combining doom metal with industrial and drone music. The new album, “Krüller,” was presented during the show. The sound was interesting, but the most exciting element was the use of a lever arm to create a very mechanical and loud drum sound, accompanied by melancholic vocals and heavy guitar riffs.
HEALTH is an L.A. trio that provides high-quality noise/industrial/rock music. They instantly took over the stage. Jake Duzsik’s soft vocals contrasted so well with the harsh instrumentals. The band created an amazing atmosphere and identity that was entirely unique and mesmerizing. You had to remind yourself to blink when you’re in their presence live. They played tracks from “Vol 4: Slaves Of Fear” like the favorites “GOD BOTHERER,” “FEEL NOTHING,” “STRANGE DAYS (1999),” and “PSYCHONAUT,” as well as old songs like “We are Water.” Most of the crowd was dancing along, but they were in their own worlds that HEALTH has created for them, allowing them to be totally carefree and consumed. PERTURBATOR came out to join them for their encore of “Excess” and what felt like a short, but the extremely satisfying set came to an end.
PERTURBATOR entered the stage under a neon-lit pentagram and the sounds of “Reaching Xanadu.” Things warmed up through the song “Lustful Sacraments,” but they beautifully segued into “Neo Tokyo,” the opening track from 2016’s “The Uncanny Valley,” kicking up everything a notch in an explosive fashion. The interchangeable neon lights of the pentagram created an even more impressive dynamic. “Diabolus Ex Machina” repleted with an outro from “Weapons for Children,” was exquisite, and the doom element underpinning “Dethroned Under A Funeral Haze” was a lovely addition to a sound that already had so much going on. Even though the set was a full thirteen songs that only lasted over an hour, which was a bit of a shame, HEALTH returned the favor and came on stage for an encore performance of “BODY/PRISON.”
Overall the show was an intense, neon-fuelled, and body-swinging experience. Syntwave created by metalheads hits like a full-on metal show.
Author & Punisher
Health
Perturbator
