Review Summary: Into the sublime unknown
I guess I'll just work my way backward through Hexalyne's discography, and why not? With an artist like him you really can't go wrong with any album you pick. And fortunately for me there are four full-lengths to pick from in just two and a half years of Sorin Paun releasing music under the Hexalyne name -- well five full-lengths, if you include his split LP from latter 2023. At that rate of putting out records, might I get ten more Hexalyne albums by the end of this decade? Well, one can certainly hope.
Anyway, so now I come to Null Surfaces, Hexalyne's second album of his career, as well as being Hexalyne's second album of 2022. Just half a year before Null Surfaces' release, Hexalyne's Tcaresset debuted what can now be christened the Hexalyne sound: finely produced electric shards that splinter from an epic IDM explosion, something akin to Richard Devine and post-LP5 Autechre, yet uniquely Hexalyne's own. Oh, yes -- with the addition of a lot of intricate production details: Hexalyne's sound is all about the hidden details, each song being vast in depth and replayability. That said, Null Surfaces changes up things a bit from his debut, however; instead of being comprised of more in-your-face LP5-esque anthems like those from before and after, the songs here tend to be much more atmospheric and explorative, particularly as the album moves into its third track and beyond.
The first and second immediate highlights are the opener "Intact Surface" and follow-up track "Heliic Cone Surface". These songs work hand and hand and perhaps mark my favorite moments of Hexalyne's career, thus far: the latter track pole-vaults explosively straight off the end of the prior and charges onward relentlessly, becoming nothing short of a sure-fire banger. It's exciting and quite epic, sure; however, listeners might be misled into thinking that there will be more songs like these two to come. Alas, it is not so.
From here, "Quon Surface" takes things down a different path into that aforementioned atmospheric, contemplative territory. It took a while for me to warm toward the transition that comes here for the rest of the album, to be honest; but listen after listen brought out the strength and enjoyment I now get from Null Surfaces' detour into the abstract unknown. For this reason, Null Surfaces is definitely a grower, I'd say, and where tracks like "Exal Surface" and closer "Metl Sine Surface" at first melded together into a random murky collage of sorts, they now mark some of the strongest points of the album.
Prior song "Exal Surface" is currently my favorite song here, actually. Hexalyne's sound is present of course, but the difference here is in that the song moves with a sincere sense of sadness; in fact, the song is almost ballad-like in the effect of its execution, featuring a memorable denouement of synth lines that constantly return to my memory. Haunting stuff. "Dexand Surface", too, is poignantly chilling and memorable as well. In sound and effect, the track brings to mind the best parts of Stendeck's Scintilla album from 2011, an all-time favorite of mine.
There's a lot to unpack here when it comes to Null Surfaces; indeed, there's much more than I initially thought when I first heard it. Yet returning and giving time and attention to the album has paid off very well in the end -- and is still paying off well, actually. Where once it was my least favorite release of Hexalyne's career, Null Surfaces now stands up well toe to toe with his other masterpieces, Tcaresset and the more recent Scillocsenports -- it's just different and takes more time, is all. If you're new to Hexalyne, listen to those albums first, I'd say, and then come back to Null Surfaces. Your time and patience will be handsomely rewarded.
