Perturbator

On the sixth and latest Perturbator album, Age of Aquarius–James Kent’s first for the renowned metal label Nuclear Blast–he offers up a more propulsive spin on his moody early work, showcasing his most confident, plainly beautiful, and thematically refined music to date. Where his previous album, 2021’s Lustful Sacraments, was about bad habits and addiction, his sixth LP - also featuring Alcest, Author & Punisher and Greta Link - explores how individualism, conflict, and war are interrelated and dominant societal forces. Both brutal and sublime, the album feels like the musical equivalent of a scream into the existential void. His ballistic, militaristic sound dovetails with his thematic focus on human aggression, which manifests itself throughout Age of Aquarius. “We have this climate nowadays of people getting divided over everything,” Kent says. “Every debate is two-sided, very extreme, very warlike, and people are very into group thinking: ‘There's this side of the conflict, and there's this side of the conflict, and if you're not on my side, you're wrong.’” We might always be in conflict as a species - with others and ourselves - but with Age of Aquarius, Kent provides its fantastic score.