PERTURBATOR

Or at least that’s what Perturbator, aka James Kent, has concluded. New album Lustful Sacraments sees him move into post-punk territory, away from the scene he helped create

WORDS: DANNII LEIVERS PICTURES: DAVID FITT

By the end of summer 2017, James Kent had reached a fork in his neon-paved road.That year, the Parisian producer had hit the metal festival circuit across Europe, working glowstick-waving metalheads into a frenzy with his lurid synthwave project, Perturbator. Along with scene mates Carpenter Brut and Gost, he’d turned electronic nostalgia into big business in metal – one of the more surprising phenomena Hammer has witnessed. But behind the thundering beats and 80s Day-Glo imagery, the adrenaline rush was wearing off. James was bored.

“You can see these synths being put into everything,” he complained to Hammer later that year, pointing out that between the numerous retro acts jumping on the bandwagon, and the 80s aesthetic cropping up in everything from Thor: Ragnarok to Blade Runner 2049 and Stranger Things, synthwave was nearing saturation point. Looking back on previous conversations with James, you can see why this would be a problem. Intense and uncompromising, he’s always taken his music seriously, revelling in his role as an outsider and enjoying his position as an artist falling between synthwave and metal.