Hailing from Paris, France, Perturbator is a true anomaly in the current world of metal and its related sub-genres. Where exactly does Perturbator fit in? The one man electronic project of James Kent makes a combination of post-Nine Inch Nails industrial synth metal and the kind of ‘80s horror soundtracks aficionados will instantly associate with John Carpenter or Brad Fiedel. He even uses a sample from the first Terminator film in a song which strongly resembles a Fiedel composition. However, despite the lack of heavy guitars, everything about Perturbator’s marketing is distinctly metal, from black metal fonts to pentagrams to his gory, hypersexual cover art.
For whatever reason, all those things combine to make Perturbator a hit in the metal world, even though it would be hard to directly classify his music as such. The aesthetics of it all make his act just too good to pass up for even the most hardened elitists. So, when Perturbator took the stage at Come and Take It Live on September 20th, a primarily metal and hardcore venue, backed by an immersive light show and using only his keyboards and synth to make his noise, it still managed to fill the house with metalheads and ravers alike.
The music itself is complex and satisfying. The lack of live accompaniment may frustrate those more used to traditional band lineups, especially when songs with vocals are performed. A purist is going to have a hard time with the only vocal performances being backing tracks cued up by a sampler. But on a deeper level, Perturbator is an interesting and entertaining composer, who strives to make his live show as engaging as possible.
It’s not quite a DJ set. An overhead view of the stage provided on Come and Take It Live’s video screens proved helpful in that typically one can’t see exactly what an artist like Perturbator is doing behind the smoke and lights. Getting to see his fingers moving in real time, setting up the next samples while playing live keys, shows just how much effort and talent goes into what he’s doing on stage.
It will be interesting to see where Perturbator goes next. As good of a time as his live show now is, the mind can’t help but produce new possibilities. His music easily lends itself to increased instrumentation; visual projections; a more grandiose production on the whole. For now, it’s a show worth catching for the raw talent on display.