Hexalyne has mountaineered IDM’s varied peaks and valleys, standing apart as one of the leaders in the experimental electronic scene, and one we continue to look forward to discovering.
Adhering to laser-blasted glitch-industrial IDM escapades
One of our favorite electronic sound sculptors is back again with a new moniker that follows his Tcaresset release on Kaer’Uiks (February 2022). The prolific Sorin Paun (aka Datacrashrobot, Wirewound, Randomform) takes Hexalyne to slightly different sonic plateaus—still adhering to laser-blasted glitch-industrial IDM escapades. All surfaces are rendered and glued together with hundreds of found-sounds, clips, scrapes, and adjoining noises from afar, Paun emphasizes rhythmic patterns that are at once eroded yet tactile, surging from start to end.
“Intact Surface” kicks off with its sizzling glitch notes and crunchy beatwork as “Heliic Cone Surface” shimmies through Autechrean landscapes where subtle melodic strands flutter about its skeletal pitter-patter structure. And this is where Hexalyne really finds his comfort zone, or surface, rather. Each piece transitions through a plethora of soundscapes that ebb and flow, sometimes detouring, yet consistent in its traverse of tangled electrical pulses and pulsars along the way. Industrial blips ‘n bleeps spread throughout. For example, on “Quon Surface,” the rattling minimalist formation and undercurrent of electrical activity is dizzying as “Xentri” cuts through layers of dust and debris—its parallel Richard Devine-infusion of electro-acoustic elements and industrial slabs is utterly creative to the nth degree.
And when you really allow Null Surfaces to unfold, this is where the sparks shine. Tracks like “Exal Surface,” while Lexaunculpt-era rhythms are in full-force, tend to slide by with relative ease as its melody provides an emotive sheen that can’t be ignored. The closing two tracks, “Dexand Surface” and “Metl Sine Surface,” are smothered in complex notes and drones colliding with data-mulching noises that are beautifully executed and could have been elseq 1–5‘s 6th sonic layer.
The results are astounding and nothing short of baffling. Hexalyne has mountaineered IDM’s varied peaks and valleys, standing apart as one of the leaders in the experimental electronic scene, and one we continue to look forward to discovering.
Nulls Surfaces is available on Point Source Electronic Arts October 7, 2022. [Bandcamp]
