Artist: Carpenter Brut
Title: Leather Temple
Type: Album
Label: Digital / CD / Vinyl No Quarter Productions / Virgin Records
I’ve been a fan of Carpenter Brut for a good while, since the dear sadly departed Pete Woods of Ave Noctum put me on to their original EP trilogy which grew from his love of film. They were one of two synthwave artists I discovered through Pete around the same time, the other being Perturbator, who had this drive and talent for creating music to films from the 80s that never existed. Carpenter Brut (aka Franck Hueso) have in passing years released Leather Teeth and Leather Terror and this, Leather Temple is the final part of the loose trilogy and this time he has completely done away with vocals and lyrics.
Which, yes, after Leather Terror and incredible tracks like ‘Widowmaker’ was a shock and initially an actual disappointment.
But.
And this is why despite originally having misgivings, I decided to review this.
Ouverture (Deus Ex Machina) is, from the first note unmistakeable Carpenter Brut; grandiose, epic, that buzzing edge to the keyboard chords before the drama hits hard. This is Cinema. This is a soundtrack. What kind of fil? Well ‘Major Threat’ just builds like a machine appearing on the horizon and then, wham! The accelerator hits, the chords come down and we find ourselves in a fantastic bit of pretty old school EBM of all things. But the Brut synthriff is never far behind and when it hits its like drowning in a deluge of binary. It has that undeniable dance edge to it, you can feel the club becoming one pulsing wave of humanity linked in to the neon and the rage. But the slipping into moments of serenity, prog like tinges to gather energy and just sublime. And the we just dance. City night neon flux all the drugs flashing and dropping and the accelerator stuck to the floor. But the melody, the emotion, the feeling inside this machine is just glorious. Self destructive, nihilistic joy but.. dance motherfucker…
‘Leather Temple’ hits lower, rougher. Rough trade Front Line Assembly grinding on the menace and good time is a hard time vibes. And this is the shock, never have Carpenter Brut leaned in so hard to the forgotten second root of synthwave. Not the straight to VHS glory soundtracks but the beat driven, dance on the edge of oblivion worlds of hard EBM bolted together with metal.
It is fantastic.
‘She Rules The Ruins’ slides silk like back to the synthwave. Scene change, seduction and the absolutely goddamned glorious amphetamine acceleration. We see the lights glow, a held moment, and then our hearts swell as she appears. Beauty, grace, blazing light and epic power. Melody line to die for. It has it all.
‘Start Your Engines’ has that scene setting opening, the rolling sound gathering pace. It smells of sleek machines and huge cityscapes. Cyberpunked hair and the intensity of energy waiting to be let out, somehow, somewhere. Cruising through streets until they slowly become streaks of neon either side. The beat picks up, the signature Caprenter Brut synthriff rides out with that impeccable touch of epic melody streamlined behind. If you doubted that this album was a soundtrack to a never made film then all doubts vanish here.
‘Neon Requiem’ is the synthwave track you wanted. Those 80s film vibes as the hero rides to the rescue. It’s night. It’s always night. This world needs no sun with this music and the neon all around. Euphoria mixes with 80s pop, the saxophone, leather jacket and turned up collar. Hair to the 80s echoing the 50s. It’s bright, it pulses and it is dance. ‘Iron Sanctuary’ in contrast sounds like the war, the fight coming. Fast bursting EBM rhythm, deep tone, the sound of something coming. The melody whispers danger, whispers this is what you live for.‘The Misfits / The Rebels’ sputter, misfire and then simply explode in a shower of fast light shards and electronica. This is heads down stuff. Oblivious, uncaring, dance until every enemy is gone or you are no more. The breakdown is superb, the layering and winding of background synths is phenomenal, like the threads in a tapestry you barely see but which hold it together. And near the end when it dips darker… oh my word…
‘Speed Or Perish’ is the brute of the bunch, the unshaven bastard that simply powers to the front with a sneer. Fuzzed out Brut style. Short melodies chained together. The sound of the organ turning it into some future church. The sense of something, someone towering over you is inescapable. No mercy for the last. And when at last we get the epic, melodic, euphoric section the church has infected that too.
‘The End Complete’ closes to the end titles. An opening that you think might be the beginning of some Don Henley song, some moment from Point Break. You wait for the vocals which never come and instead it switches, flicks through rippling beats and melancholy tune into a slowly revealed epic vista. The result, the aftermath. The sounds once more of the future retro cityscape. A moment of stillness as all that energy and speed recedes…the moment of elegaic introspection.
And fade…
Leather Temple is for me a jaw dropping conclusion to the ‘Leather’ Trilogy. Eschewing songs seems to have somehow freed Carpenter Brut to dive into the music without fear. The compositions, the layering, the production are all just breathtaking. But the important thing is that this is an album of absolute vision, power and circuit breaking energy. It is a synapse cracking, euphoric and violent rush of light and drama, cameras everywhere and kinetic action that blurs an entire city. It is neon electronic drugs rammed straight to the spine and the restrictors blown. And it lets you soar.
Magnum opus. Totally.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 