The quality of work by artists that release too much material tends to suffer, and while that isn't really the case with Berlin-based Ben Lukas Boysen (Hecq), it wouldn't be unfair to say that as fascinating or groundbreaking his work might be, it is also uneven.Steeltongued is Boysen's sixth album in the last seven years and much like his previous releases, it reveals itself to be the work of one of the most promising contemplative electronica artists today. After six albums, one would have thought that Hecq would have moved beyond the "promising artist" categorization, but the many moments of genius found in Steeltongued don't always add up.
His previous effort, Night Falls, where spooky Lynch-ian atmospheres alternated with stripped-to-the-bone, decomposing melodic pieces, was one of last year's best, and this album continues from where that one left off. In the first CD, which includes mostly original material, Hecq doesn't deviate much from his signature sound, except for the fact that his sound is a bit rougher. The breathtaking dark ambient of "Spires Awake", where Boysen turns the volume up, and then down at the least expected moment, immerses us in a world of doom from which there is no escape. While "I Will Survive", featuring rapper Nongenetic, feels completely out of place and almost ruins the album, Boysen's sound gradually evolves into a tortured form of breakcore (with "Howler" the most characteristic example), bringing to mind the kind of music one would imagine Venetian Snares making if he suffered from Catholic guilt. The first CD closes with the three-part "Hypnos", where Hecq returns to what he does best: creating atmospheres that are serene on the surface, but infest the listener's dreams with the most unsettling of images.
Steeltongued oozes talent, but what makes the first CD uneven is the fact that it lacks direction. It isn't uncommon for artists to write heterogeneous music, and that is certainly not what bothered me. The problem is that it often feels like a compilation of leftovers - and it is possible that that is exactly what it is, considering the quantity of work released by Boysen in recent years.
Every artist has the right to experiment, and Boysen does that a lot as well. As interesting as his experiments may be, he often falls flat on his face. His attempts at breakcore struggle to breathe and feel incomplete, and as I have already mentioned, the album would have been much better without the hip-hop "I Will Survive". It isn't necessarily bad, but it pulls you out of the album's flow in the most violent way. Living in the digital age has made the order in which we listen to music pretty much irrelevant, but instrumental music requires a certain mindset in order to fully appreciate, and that's one thing Hecq fails to accomplish in the first CD. There are still many moments of brilliance, but if I had to compare it to another album, that would be Venetian Snares' Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett, not because they belong to the same genre (they don't, despite the many similarities), but because they lack the focus that would make it all worth listening.
The second CD includes remixes of the track "Steeltongued", and since I did not have any of the above expectations for this CD, I couldn't help but enjoy the wonderful job many of the remixers do at deconstructing it and giving it their own personal touch. It is easily one of the best compilation albums I have heard recently, bringing together some of the most prolific minds of the dark ambient scene that varies significantly in sound, but has so much to offer.
Raoul Sinier turns it into a nearly perfect, majestic piece where every note feels in the right place.Blackfilm's contribution stands out for its metronomic industrial beat and could have fit beautifully in last year's self-titled album.Tobias Lilja provides a Nemeth-like, slowly but sneakily developing masterpiece, while Xabec's remix brings to mind Future Sound of London circa Lifeforms, with some hints of Banco de Gaia. There are quite a few duds as well, but the quality of the second CD is very high. And despite its many faults, Steeltongued is one of those albums that make experimental music so much more interesting than anything else.
-John Kontos