Dark Neandertal

Niche perfume brand Neandertal delves into fundamental existential questions like “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?” by striving to understand the human experience from an external perspective. Its founder, artist and sculptor Kentaro Yamada, chose the form of a carved, pointed stone for the fragrances – tools like these have been used by mankind for over a million years. The design and packaging are artistic, reflecting the brand's core concept. Yamada describes Dark as "a scent of movement that challenges perfumery conventions." The priciest fragrance on the list is dissonant and harrowing from start to finish, filled with tension between leathery, ambery, spicy, and green accords. Interwoven among them, like gold glue binding broken ceramics in the kintsugi technique, is a pungent iodine undertone that shifts the composition into a mineral register. Oil, burning peat, tomato leaves, foliage, and cold metal blend into an amorphous noise reminiscent of the industrial hum in David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The chorus from the opening track of Nine Inch Nails' "Bad Witch" also comes to mind: "New world, new times, mutation, feels all right" is chanted over a staccato, hypnotic drum line. In this song, the lyrical hero looks at himself in the mirror and sees not just an unfamiliar face but a new world behind it. The industrial nightmare, a landscape of impending collapse and inexorable entropy, is captured by Scottish perfumer Euan McCall, familiar to many Fragrantica readers for his work with Jorum Studio. As it unfolds, the fragrance continues to hold its wearer in suspense, thrusting the anxiety to the forefront. An impressive and truly fascinating scent.