ALBUM REVIEW: Leather Terror – Carpenter Brut
To say CARPENTER BRUT are renowned in the synthwave scene is something of a gross understatement; somewhat similar to PERTURBATOR in attitude if not sonically, they’ve taken the genre in bold new directions, injecting it with a sense of heavy metal grandeur and a healthy dose of 80s glam and slasher flicks to create something new, bold and incredibly fun. The brainchild of Franck Heuso, the project started life out of a desire to make music on his own, without having to form or join a band, and electronic music allowed him to do just that. An initial trio of EPs was released, followed by full-length Leather Teeth, which told the tale of a shy teen desperate to win the affection of his crush, going so far as to become the frontman of a legendary band, the fictional Leather Patrol.
That story continues with latest album Leather Terror but, true to its name, it takes a far darker turn. Even ahead of release, Hueso described the album as a reinvention and in some ways, it bears out. It’s still the CARPENTER BRUT fans know and love, but the tone is much more foreboding, menacing and indebted to the sleaze beneath than the glam itself. Narratively following Leather Teeth, that frontman is now a serial killer hellbent on exacting bloody vengeance on all those he thinks has wronged him, and this story is spattered across the album’s 12 tracks in gory, cinematic splendour.
From first track proper, Straight Outta Hell, Hueso sets a high bar for the album; the pulsing synths, hammering beats and Alex Westaway of fellow synthwave staples GUNSHIP making a guest appearance on The Widow Maker, a star turn on an album packed to the rafters with great features. Fourth track Imaginary Fire brings in former THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN frontman Greg Puciato for a turn and it’s a sleek, dangerous number that oozes its sleazy attitude from every pore. It’s followed by something of a curveball, though one that works in the context of the album. Slowing things down is …Good Night, Goodbye that ends in stabbing synths, a foreboding climax to something that started off as something of a reprieve.
Elsewhere, the ghostly voice of SYLVAINE haunts Stabat Mater, lending it the character of her own work without losing the pervading aura of menace that permeates Leather Terror throughout. The closing title track is both a departure from the earlier features and songs but also the most clear encapsulation of the album itself; featuring TRIBULATION’s Johannes ‘Jonka’ Andersson lending his considerable vocal talents to create a gothic opus to close the album in seething, murderous style.
The biggest strength though, is not just this darker tone or the excellent songwriting; it’s that for all the darkness and sleaze, CARPENTER BRUT also understands one thing incredibly well and that’s how to make synthwave gloriously schlocky fun; Leather Terror delivers on that in spades. There are no slow-burning, progressive songs; it’s wall-to-wall immediacy and danceable fun that truly puts the laughter into slaughter.
Rating: 8/10
Leather Terror is out now via Universal Music.
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