Carbon Killer - Carbon Inc.

(Lazerdiscs 2018)

Darksynth has shifted away from outrun and '80s cyberpunk themes toward satanic imagery (borrowed from extreme metal) and a sonic palette that's more brostep and EDM than '80s retro. I find I often miss the older incarnation of darksynth--the cyberpunk '80s music that Perturbator or Makeup and Vanity Set were making a few years ago. Carbon Killer doesn't so much go back there as stake out a middle position between the old and the new.



Carbon Inc. is well produced, features solid compositions, and is definitely tethered to the '80s. Actually, "The Last Stand" starts off a lot like Telefuture-era Makeup and Vanity Set...that is, until it introduces some EDM-style bass. And that's sort of how the whole album goes. Carbon Inc. basically feels akin to a few other recent releases that attempt the same trick. Isidor and The Neon Droid come to mind, though Carbon Inc. works a bit better for me than either of those ones did. I like the Simmons toms and vintage synth arpeggios.

On the other hand, I find myself cringing every time I hear that heavily modulated ultrabass. Like, "nooooooo, go back to that other thing!" I realize that I'm just getting old, a veteran from the ancient days of 2011 who doesn't think the kids appreciate how tough and good everything was before software synthesizers and running water. But that's just my honest, unvarnished opinion. It is what it is. 

Score: 8.0