Out 10 October, 2025
Via Nuclear Blast Records
Words by: Belinda Quick
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting – Sun Tzu, The Art of War
James Kent is no stranger to introspective expression. Music his conductive vessel, the French artist, known artistically as PERTURBATOR, is renowned for complex examinations of the human condition via lush sonic landscapes.
Regarded as ‘the face of retro-inspired’, dark electronica, accoladed for an already extensive catalogue of work, Perturbator has yearned to break beyond ‘the ubiquitous cliches’ of a confined genre and demonstrate his depth of craft; in his sixth studio album, Age of Aquarius, that aspiration is achieved.
Debuting for the revered metal record label, NUCLEAR BLAST, the grand 11-track opus opens with blood on the ground and echoes of history. Apocalypse Now bonding brutality and beauty, Norwegian electronic icons, ULVER, are the first of several phenomenal co-contributors to feature.
Prepared to launch and accelerating into Lunacy, the second track concurrently conveys the imagery of man’s devolution into madness and ascension into the void – of his own existential crisis and (if the name is indeed a latent reference to its etymology) the void of outer space.
Lending itself to interpretation, Perturbator soars beyond the moon and, accompanied by long-time collaborator AUTHOR & PUNISHER, blazes toward Venus. The former’s sublimity complimented by the latter’s doom, an effect akin to hyper euphoria spirals; feeling way too high, desiring evermore simultaneously.
Referencing retro-survival horror, The Glass Staircase is an ominous experiment, weighted by the protracted dissociation of Hangover Square. Undoubtedly an homage to the 1941 novel, Perturbator plays upon Patrick Hamilton’s theme of impending war, aligning an historical warning to current contexts.
The Art of War is poignant. Illustrating Sun Tzu’s message, the placement, tempo change and atmosphere are strategic moves. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight, and realises not all battles are fought on enemy grounds. Look to the 12th House, where, within the collective unconscious, resolution is found.
GRETA LINK is Lady Moon herself, the divine feminine lending her distinctive voice to Perturbator’s work once again produces a texturally ambient moment. Luxury is superseded by hypnotic piano keys, repeated laps of The Swimming Pool whose timbre almost drowns out the infamous Bride of Re-Animator affront at a god repulsed by man.
The penultimate track reads in Latin Mors Ultima Ratio, and audibly translates its definition: Death is the final resort. A philosophical musing, interpretations abound on intention; the perceived endings of an old world order to destine anew, one of harmony, equality and progress.
The epic title track featuring blackgaze compatriots, ALCEST, invites this passage of intellectual thought by way of a resplendent final aria. Exploring the interconnected conflicts of being both individual and universal beings, in equal parts glorious and confronting, this truly is Perturbator at his finest and most transformed.
This is the dawning of his, ours and The Age of Aquarius.
