Carpenter Brut : Leather Temple
Nearly 15 years ago, an aggressive synthwave sound emerged from France, with Carpenter Brut‘s Franck Hueso leading the charge. Leather Temple marks the project’s 3rd full-length, their first full-length of sorts being the EP compilation Trilogy. Though Carpenter Brut’s overall sound remains rooted in the synth-driven atmosphere of those early recordings, it has become more refined and has benefited from higher production values. And Leather Temple‘s first song, “Major Threat,” likewise carries the kind of energy that made the adjacent enough to metal, allowing them to benefit from crossing over into a heavy music audience.
The album’s hookiest song is the title track, which grooves with a syncopated punch as it maintains its established momentum. In nailing the idealized version of a retro ’80s sound, the songs begin to take on a more uniform feel—the uptempo drive of “She Rules the Ruins,” for instance, creates the ambiance of an immersive video game. Even for those who might not typically be drawn to instrumental music, it’s hard not to respect the aggressive approach Carpenter Brut take with synths, as they occupy the space guitars would normally sit. The uptempo nature of the songs keeps the blood pumping fast enough for you not notice the void where a vocal melody would be.
“Start Your Engines” finds the synth melodies bobbing and weaving over a dance beat, its mood lighter and closer to the whimsy of an anime soundtrack. “Neon Requiem” indulges more of the ’80s-inspired side of the synthwave’s more mainstream tendencies by going so far as to have a saxophone dipping in for a minute. They return to a marginally heavier pulse to “Iron Sanctuary” before toying with a breakbeat for the verses of “The Misfits the Rebels,” which hits with more urgency when it kicks in, but ebbs back down to the more electronic shuffle.
With any genre, it’s all too easy to place the emphasis on being able to check off all the expected elements in ensuring the defining sounds are in place, and forgetting that memorable songs that stand the test of time is still what’s most important. This album shows that Carpenter Brut cares enough about the composition to emphasize dynamics and finer details. In fact, Leather Temple finds the project retaining its palace on the heavier side of the Miami Vice soundtrack-style synthwave bands, but less aligned with metal than on previous releases. Though it’s more of a neon-lit affair draped in pastel colors rather than the grim nightmare that past albums have flirted with, it nonetheless successfully provides the best possible soundtrack to a dystopian future.
Label: No Quarter
Year: 2026
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