Hecq's penetrating timbral sensibilities lull the unwary listener into a state of meditation-observation, as if hovering on the uneasy event horizon of some unfathomably vast abyss.His touch is expert; no waveforms go unchecked. There is great skill here.Massive in its expression, it's effect is powerful. Hecq achieves a level of intensity that is maintained through his beautiful sonic transformations and his careful unpredictability. It would keep excellent company with Marsen Jules' "Lazy Sunday Funerals", Tim Hecker's "Imaginary Country", and Yagya's "Will I Dream During The Process".

Released in mid-2008 on Hymen Records (sublabel of Ant Zen), Night Falls is a brilliantly composed piece of work that has no boundaries.People like to talk about how to think out the box and how this concept relates to music (et al) and specifically albums that have stood the test of time, who have a place in the coveted musical hall of fame. With Night Falls, there is no box to think out of. It is a roving, boundless, and deserted landscape painted with hues of dark blues and grays further characterized by an aurally nomadic experience: going from one place to another, the destination unknown.There is a huge, huge sense of isolationism that I’ve really grown to appreciate pretty highly. It is precisely this multi-dimensional sense of isolationism that few albums in the genre have attained to a degree that you can’t help but notice. This is a phenomenally monumental work that asks that you simply exhale and consume the cinematic elements that are so concentrated within – chock full of bitter cold ripples of musical elements (specifically, orchestral) signal a retreat to a safe place that only has one inhabitant: you.The album art hints at this a bit, and obviously, the record’s title as well; the former of which is deceptively simple: the record’s artwork is just a black cover with informational text. But inside is a journey from the hyperactive, schizophrenic world to one that sinks to low levels of escapism in comfortable resignation. Almost like falling backwards into your sofa couch after a particularly long day.This is why I feel that Night Falls is one of the best albums ever written. Sit back, put on some good headphones, and listen to this all the way through.

As I turn my attention from ethereal to dark ambient, it is only appropriate that I cover the latest album from one of my all time favorite artists, Hecq. Last year, I already hailed Ben Lukas Boysen's double disk release, titled 0000, as one of the Best of 2007 albums. It perfectly aligned along my favorite elements of grandiose orchestral sound and punctuated IDM beats. Upon my first listen of Hecq's fifth album, I anxiously await the glitchy breaks that are so prominent in Hecq's previous albums. Alas they never come. And with this proclamation, Boysen creates a new sound in which he instantly excels. Appropriately titled, Night Falls, Boysen drops the rhythmic structure altogether, and produces one of the most inspiring, lush, atmospheric and hauntingly dark pieces I have heard to date. There is a continuous cinematic tension of something hiding right beneath the shadow of a thinly layered sonic veil. Night Falls is an album that stops you dead in your tracks to really listen. What is that brooding sound, and does it have a name? I will not hide the fact, that with each swell of dynamic wave, the emotion within me rises as well, and I fight back the tears at the tip of each crescendo. With outstanding production and masterful control of individual frequencies, Hecq propels his sound techniques from a mere post-industrial IDM producer to a contemporary neo-classical composer. Hymen should be proud. Reminiscent of Murcof, Lusine Icl, Kattoo, Nebulo and Subheim.