Hekum is a new alias of Gabriele Salerno aka T-Kode who has a history of releases dating back to 2015, putting out a certain brand of techno that is texture rich, droning, and encompasses a forbidding landscape of sounds.
Sounds that are captivating and entirely different than what you’re accustomed to, sounds which push the definition of what techno is supposed to sound like. Upon scratching the surface of Salerno’s recent output, you immediately sit up and take notice, asking, “What is this?” Hekum’s music is truly exciting, since it seems to have both a shared place in techno that is very much in the present, has references from the past, and possibly has a way of shaping up influences for techno’s deeply hypnotic future.
Gabriele Salerno, Italian-born now Berlin resident and owner of Stratosphera records started his alias Hekum at the beginning of 2021 as a fresh start with this release, “Developing of Origins,” possibly as a way to investigate this new evolution of sound in detail.
First track in the release is “Unstable Mentality” which has drums that immediately make you think of a 00’s Purposemaker type track, or Oliver Ho’s deep and heady textures. Most of the track here is summed up in resonant sticky synths glazed over the top of the drum track mixed with an evolving pad, mixed with tubey tom hit synths in reverse delay. The track does not progress other than a main break, but it is very useful for creating a wash and a foundation for other more progressive tracks. Or maybe a static calm and sense of ease within a set before tearing off into something more intense.
Next track on the digital release here is “Plasma” which sets the stage with soothing white noise static on the top end. The static replaces any need for traditional high hats, but the hats present are subdued to remain as the timekeeper for the track. Without which, you might forget we’re in a really heady techno track. The track’s strength is referencing this sort of aquatic quality with liquid burbling synths in deep reverb and snorkeling Porter Ricks whispers in delay over the top..,it’s not too dissimilar from subdued filtered and compressed early 00’s techno but also keeps things modern with this calming atmosphere and loving bass.
“After Love Dies” is definitely the pick on the EP coming out strong with a pulsing bass over kick rhythm section which has an undeniable groove while matched with the rest of the unique experiments on the EP.. i.e., calming therapeutic noise, landscape heavy pads, whispering distorted/noisey drums. There’s a great feeling of control here and it’s super strong, which could hold its own along harder material or leveling up from more atmospheric tracks early on in a set.
The title track of the EP, “Developing of Origins,” is last featured here and it is a deep dive into the atmospheric abstract landscape concept that Hekum is pushing. The sound design is clear and concise, almost IDM-like in crispness. It is very much tied together by FM synthesis pads, hits, and deep reverb. Possibly the best and worst part of the track it ends so soon after it makes you commit to loving it’s very powerful kick and bass pattern. As an artistic statement it definitely seems like a minor manifesto.. “this, -this is what I want to be doing.”
If this EP is any indication of things to come for Salerno under the Hekum guise, it provides a very solid foundation for some work to come and a concept for others to take notice. It’s an inspiring EP because Hekum here is trying something unique and it’s totally something of his own. In the past, before the pandemic, people were afraid to rock the boat. Now there seems to be many people thinking that artistic license can be equally powerful. It’s like saying, “what if all we really had was our music, what can we actually do?” Thankfully Hekum is one of these artists who has carried the torch and is proving a light to lead the way into the post-pandemic world, with creativity and true inspiration.
-Sean Ocean
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