Review Summary: It’s hard to say where Lustful Sacraments stands in Perturbator’s overall discography, but it does well as what may be their bleakest yet most accessible release to date
Having established themselves as a leading force in dark synthwave, Perturbator’s fifth full-length album comes with a very radical change of direction. While the music’s top priority remains on electronics exploring the atmospheric side of the eighties aesthetic, Lustful Sacraments sees the specific focus shift from would-be horror movie soundtracks to gothic darkwave straight out of London’s Batcave. It’s a little hyperbolic to say that the results feel like the work of a completely different project, but it does have an almost alien quality when compared to previous efforts.
Fortunately, Perturbator efforts are unified in a full commitment to whatever aesthetic they are pursuing, and this album is no exception. The mood is relentlessly nihilistic while the musicianship does a fantastic job of portraying a bitterly cold outlook. The synths and guitar work together to create disorienting textures, the former ominously swirling and the latter signaling brittle jangles, as the industrial drum programming cuts hard and mean. Vocals remain sparse but there are a couple guests contributing performances that are appropriately deadpan and distraught.
The songwriting also retains a good eye for structure as the individual songs feel compact but flow well into one another for a cohesive whole. The album starts off in dance club fashion as the building prelude of “Reaching Xanadu” is immediately followed by the catchy one-two punch of the title track and “Excess.” “Secret Devotion” is a well-done Sisters of Mercy homage with a lurking rhythm that reminds me of “Colors” and an Eldritch-esque vocal courtesy of True Body. “Dethroned Under a Funeral Haze” and the closing “God Says” are also fantastically morose dirges, the former living up to its ‘three Darkthrone songs mushed together’ title and the latter featuring a mournful Robert Smith-inspired vocal from Hangman’s Chair.
It’s hard to say where Lustful Sacraments stands in Perturbator’s overall discography, but it does well as what may be their bleakest yet most accessible release to date. Just as the project nailed its John Carpenter aspirations on albums like 2014’s Dangerous Days, this is an excellent pastiche of eighties goth music fueled by a mix of on point atmosphere and snappy, varied songwriting. Even if you aren’t familiar with the band’s past work, it should sit well with fans of groups like Sisters Of Mercy and Depeche Mode.
