Album Review: Perturbator – Lustful Sacraments (Blood Music)

Perturbator – who received massive acclaim as the face of retro-inspired dark electronic music – breaks free from the ubiquitous clichés of synthwave. Lustful Sacraments represents James “Perturbator” Kent’s most mature work to date, merging the dark synthesized tones that made Perturbator a household name with classic post-punk, goth, and heavy techno rhythms. It will be released on May 28th, 2021 via Blood Music.

The album continues Perturbator’s nihilistic legacy of exploring future worlds, ones regarding humanity’s inevitable downfall. James states:

It’s an album about bad habits, dissatisfaction and addiction. An overall look at how we, as a species, lean towards self-destruction.

Very cold, very dark but very sexy. The name of Lustful Sacraments makes sense, the more you dive into the twisted pool of Perturbator’s electronica driven mind. It’s very twisted music but with a delicious amount of sexy catchiness, the sort that you can envision pounding out of a goth club speaker system. The dance floor filled with sweating and heaving bodies, all taking part in their own individual lustful sacrament. The darkness of the title track and the synth energy of Excess, two examples of the differing sounds Perturbator can express.

There’s no disputing the unique quality of this album, something that is all the more impressive when you consider how restrictive ‘synthwave’ can be at times. Perturbator have no such issues in crafting something that buries under the skin. The grandness of The Other Place is one that shows just how clever the music can be.

Of course, this is a synthwave album, a developed one that isn’t bound by the ‘rules’ of the musical style, but one none the less. That will likely be enough for many who dislike this sort of stuff which is a shame as Perturbator are certainly up there as the one of the best at it. That it leans so much towards a darker and eviller sound is what really sells it though.

Perturbator – Lustful Sacraments Full Track Listing:

1. Reaching Xanadu
2. Lustful Sacraments
3. Excess
4. Secret Devotion (ft. True Body)
5. Death of The Soul
6. The Other Place
7. Dethroned Under A Funeral Haze
8. Messalina, Messalina
9. God Says (ft. Hangman’s Chair)

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