After perfect releases on Hymen records the new album by Ben Lukas Boysen was expected by experimental music listeners with special interest. "Will the musician be able to surprise in the way he did it earlier?" - perhaps this is the main question of this release. Not always all talented people manage to create music so often, such music which doesn't remain on the shelves, but is listened regularly and brings special euphoria. Sometimes having rushed up, 'creative machine' can have an error and reach a deadlock. Did it happen to the latest creation by Hecq? I think that partly this fact can be admitted.Steeltongued is the experiment with his own sounding. The album resembles agonizing searching for the new branches of Hecq's musical tree, as if Ben Lucas tried to weave his earlier works into the new sound ornament. Tracks "Typhon", "Steeltongued" and "Dfrm" reflect one of the central and character themes of the album. Abstract rhythmical constructions sound very interesting and rich, sound design by Hecq is perfect as usual. "Dfrm" turned to be especially interesting for me, its vector is rushed to the side of the late Autechre. But each of these tracks lacks some "calibrated forms", composition chokes inside itself and doesn't transmit any serious message. Remix (BK Remix) by Hecq to his own untitled track from album Bad Karma is slightly transformed to the sounding of that album of 2005 and experiments used in the new work.
Drive, strong "I Will Survive" can be considered the most unexpected part. It was created together with Nongenetic who recited his own texts in recitative. The track really made me glad - it's a rather interesting step to the side of experimental hip-hop, which added variety to Steeltongued, and in general there is enough variety in it. "Howler" is also notable among the other tracks after its rushing into very quick breakcore with burst of machine-gun fire of cut jungle drum loops. Absolutely unsuccessful solution, to my mind...
I would say that deep, volumetric ambient is the second of the two main album's themes, at first it's just interweaved into cocktails of pulsations and digital grinding sound - tracks "Spires Awake", "The Descent" and "Frost". Especially impressive is "The Descent" created together with one more resident of Hymen Records - Nebulo. The CD ends with three wonderful tracks under general headline "Hypnos Trilogy". It's a rather detached part of the album, can be listened without a pause - hollow, dense ambient with piano and other symphony instruments in full open the side of Hecq's music which was perfectly demonstrated in the previous album Night Falls.
It's difficult for me to say anything definite about the second CD which includes only remixes for the central album's track by different musicians. I'm sure that everybody can find here something interesting for him - for example, the works of projects Ultre, Blackfilm and El Fog turned to be remarkable. But still this disc is just a bonus, I think... I will also make a special notion of the traditional for Hymen fine cover design which is pleasant to hold in hands. If Steeltongued were the work of a young musician I would say that it turned to be a rather good work, but played by Hecq, new experiments sometimes sound unexpectedly tasteless.
- Hecq
- Hymen Records