Review Summary: Ride or die
Carpenter Brut first broke out in the early 2010s with a trilogy of EPs and features in Hotline Miami, naturally drawing in an entire generation of gamers and synth fetishists. Brut’s early sound blended French electro with retrofuturistic horror vibes — think John Carpenter soundtracks (an influence so obvious it makes half his stage name) while on a bad acid trip. From there, his full length releases and live shows evolved his sound to introduce more metal-oriented instrumentation, landing him a wider following with rock and metal audiences.
Now we’re here at
Leather Temple, the third and final release in his 'Leather' trilogy. It is a tight 10 track release with no vocals in sight — and Brut really doubles down on pure instrumental storytelling. This is the most metal-influenced, cinematic, and sonically aggressive he’s ever been. This could easily be the soundtrack to the next Blade Runner, Tron or another future cyberpunk dystopian flick. It still features Caprenter’s brand of synth-y neon soaked retro-futurism, but its also his heaviest, loudest and most challenging album to date.
The album opens with
'Overture', a brief atmospheric prologue, but then the real ignition switch flips with
'Major Threat'. The track drops like a building falling over and sets the tone for everything to come as very grand and very sinister. From there, the record hits a stretch of some of Brut’s most cinematic and metal-adjacent work to date. The title track
'Leather Temple' pulses with a driving beat and booming synths — reminiscent of The Prodigy sans vocals — and it ends with this heavy, crushing finale that feels like the ceiling falling in on the subterranean nightclub.
'She Rules the Ruin' is another example where the album goes full widescreen, leaning into enormous, sky-high synths. But the album really hits a mid-point peak with
'Start Your Engines'. This thing is absurdly epic — a giant rave anthem that builds and builds to a drop that reminded almost a bit like the drop in Darude’s Sandstorm, but way darker and more industrial. It culminates in this climax that goes hard as *** and ends with the sound of a car literally crashing or exploding or some ***. It’s one of the most thrilling moments in Brut’s whole discography.
After that blast of chaos,
'Neon Requiem' drops the intensity way down and gives you this gorgeous, more melodic, classic 80s-style synth vibe, complete with even a saxophone. It’s probably the least metal track here but still very sweeping and lush. We later get the one two punch of
'The Misfits/The Rebels' and
'Speed Or Perish'.
'The Misfits/The Rebels' introduces some UK-style drum & bass — it gave me Pendulum vibes, but in a *good* way. It’s manic, high-speed, and the I dig the "guilty" vocal snippets that add some narrative dressing. With the lack of vocals, Carpenter tells his narrative through the album's art, music videos, the cliff notes, and just letting the music do the work - and in that sense I think this is his most cinematic release to date.
'Speed or Perish' is exactly what it sounds like. Pure death race music. This might be the most intense thing Brut has ever made. You can practically feel the danger — the sense of acceleration, the overwhelming scale. By the end, when the glitzy keys come in, it feels massive and has final act or final boss energy. It’s an epic and thrilling climax, and serves as the albums real finale.
Finally, we get
'The End Complete', which is really more of an epilogue. It starts low and slow with the layers of synths and keys slowly evolving, the track expands into this serene but still eerie atmosphere. It feels like the track for the credits to roll on this album and trilogy, and a chance to breathe and reflect on the wreckage.
Leather Temple is Carpenter Brut at his most ambitious, heaviest, and most cinematic. By doing away with the vocals and guest features, he delivers his most focused, most immersive and most fully realized vision to date. It’s the perfect final chapter to the trilogy — combining the neon-soaked retro energy of his early work with the grand, metal-infused scale he’s developed over the years. It’s some of the most cinematic synthwave I think you’ll ever hear and the climaxes through the album are genuinely thrilling.
