Monday 16 May 2016

Slightly Perturbed

Oh boy was I ever excited to see this one in my inbox. It should come as no surprise to any regulars I love me some cyberpunk Sci-Fi and some Hotline Miami synthwavy goodness, and do I have a treat for you if you also dig that kind of thing. Let's go.

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Now, if that artwork didn't tip you off, Perturbator is one of the big names of the scene I see a lot, alongside say Carpenter Brut and Lazerhawk, there's a whole lot of retro influence drawn from, mainly 80's anime and seedy occult slasher flicks. It's with some slight shame I admit I haven't kept up with 'Bator's actual releases so much, but like many a great cyberpunk inspired musician before him there's a glut of world-building and story behind the LP which I will put up now:
"The album continues in the same story thread as the artist's previous works, taking place 24 years after the finale of “Dangerous Days.” Focus shifts from the world of Nocturne City into the future alleys of Tokyo, after the finale of the War Against Machines."
And with that, lets begin. From the get go it's not hard to see why the devs of Hotline Miami picked up on it, from all I've heard that slightly menacing off kilter sound has been perfected. As is to be expected from a tune with a title like this.



It's not always instantaneous release of Synthwave violence though, one of the strengths of Perturbator I've come to know is that the composition of the tracks to achieve a certain atmosphere is top notch. Thankfully it's not long before The Uncanny Valley gives us a stellar example of both these. Keep an eye out for the inevitable AMVs of this one in the near future.



I've always liked the more downbeat pieces on offer too, and this album features probably my favourite of them all so far. There's certainly a comparison to be made between the sound of this one and Vapourwave, but that was going to be a given seeing as they both derive a lot of inspiration from 80's anime. Still, it feels very authentic, I don't think it'd sound too out of place coming out of a Sega CD game (specifically Snatcher).



And finally the album's title track, one final synth filled swan song to see it out. As much as it's sounds cliché I definitely think there's a strong cinematic element to the LP as a whole and not just because of the cited influences from say Akira and Ghost In The Shell, even this one feels like ti was structured to accompany a finale into credits roll, complete with a fade at the end for a teaser for the next one to show.



Once again I sheepishly apologise for not having properly dug into Perturbator's back-catalogue before, but I'm sure if I posted my backlog of things I have to pick up you'd understand! Regardless, I highly recommend checking Perturbator and the like out if this kinda sound is scratching an itch for you, there's plenty out there to get stuck into you can start over at /r/outrun or even better...

Find more Perturbator on:
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Youtube
Twitter

-Claude Van Foxbat

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