- Heckle's first album, The Second Son, had a pleasant rawness, with jagged edges intermeshing into complex rhythmic structures. His second, Desolate Figures, also sweats with analogue fuzz. Even when he introduces some jazzy keys on "Something For Your Distorted Mind," they're still so grimy they sound more akin to a garage punk band than anything from Galaxy 2 Galaxy. There's an industrial tinge to the lumpen wallop that begins "Frankenstein's Sweet Nectar"—a reminder that it was Regis who initially discovered Heckle—though its swirling psychedelia makes it much more colourful than most industrial fare. Elsewhere, "Inhuman Nature" presents retro bleep techno just the right side of pastiche. Heckle isn't afraid of employing Detroit techno tropes, such as the sombre strings in "Blindman's Bluff" or "Power Of Two," both of which owe a clear debt to Jeff Mills.
Mills has also influenced Heckle's hybrid live / DJ performances, which see him working with analogue hardware while cutting up techno records almost hip-hop style. That frantic delivery has also bled into Desolate Figures. You can almost smell the circuits burning as everything is pushed into the red on "Grey Metal," a track that's almost overwhelmingly busy, every space filled with rattling percussion and static. Even if Desolate Figures occasionally seems fixated on the past, it creates a visceral rush that would be best experienced on the dance floor in the here and now.
Tracklist01. Blindman's Bluff
02. Inhuman Nature
03. Frankenstein's Sweet Nectar
04. Love-Lies
05. Something For Your Distorted Mind
06. Death Of A Spaceman
07. Crazy Metal
08. Never With You
09. Power Of Two