Carpenter Brut : "Leather Temple"

 

Technically, this is the French Synth wave purveyor's 3rd full-length since the first album wa a compilation of the eps. The opening track delivers what you expect, and the title track is hooky with its syncopated punch. They keep the momentum going, though the songs begin to run together for me about three songs in, as the uptempo drive of "She Rules the Ruins' sounds like video game music. I am not huge into instrumental music but have a surious respect for this genre and appreciate the aggressive nature of this music with its use of synths occupying the space guitars would normally occupy. 

"Start Your Engines" continues to use the dance beat that the synth melodies bob over in a lighter fashion than some of the previous songs that sound more like an anime soundtrack. "Neon Requiem" indulges the more 80s-inspired side of the genres main stream tendcies and includes a saxophone dipping in for a minute. There is a marginally heavier pulse to "Iron Sanctuary". 

There is more of a break beat to "The Misfits the Rebels," which hits with a more in-your-face energy when it kicks in, but ebbs back down to the more electronic shuffle. Artists like this can struggle with the balance of sound vs a song, since the entire genre is built on capturing this sound. But there are enough dynamics in play to prove he cares about songs. Funny enough to be called "Speed or Perish," the song is not the album's fastest and works off a pretty solid mid-paced groove. 

Speaking of groove, the last songs find and almsot Nine Inch Nails-like groove. It's on the slower more introspective side. Think "Fragile", not "Downward Spiral". In fact, this album is not all that dark or heavy, though perhaps heavier than some of the Miami Vice soundtrack styled synth wave bands, but aside from the title track and maybe two other songs, this album is less metal adjacent in its heavier leaning. I will give it an 8.5. If you are into this sort of thing in the broader scope, it is going to deliver the soundtrack to the dystopian future you fantasize about that is not as dark as the one I have in mind. 

pst73