Three EP’s, a few singles and a hefty collection of barmy music videos. All pale in comparison to the mathcore masterpiece that is “Instructions”. If you ever thought Heck just make a lot of noise, be prepared to eat your words.
“The album title came at a time when we were finding out the hard way that there is a very set way to gain success in music,” says singer and guitarist Matt Reynolds. “We’ve never been a band that’s very good at falling in line or doing what we’re supposed to, we’re even less adept at making life easy for ourselves. So ‘Instructions’ became a bit of a cheeky nod to that.”
Forever curing the January blues, opener ‘Good As Dead’ came out of nowhere. The band nonchalantly tweeted saying that there’d be a new song that night, and bang. There it was. Setting up the record nicely it’s a rager, you can yell along and aggressively air guitar (my personal favourite activity). Accompanying the storm of riffs is a rough and ready chorus, far from angelic, the words are there to be screamed with passion. “I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying to change!”, Reynolds uses his voice as a weapon to pierce the ears of all who listen.
“We’re all extremely proud of ‘Instructions’,” Reynolds continues. “We’ve been craving an album and writing material with a view to create an album for at least the last four of those years. The timing however just never worked out for us. If we had it our way we’d release a new album every couple of months! But the fact that we’ve held off (or at times like last year been prohibited) has made our debut feel even more special. Now I just want people to hear it!”
A revamped version of ‘The Great Hardcore Swindle’ is presented with an even more chaotic feel. Confrontational as ever, “This is not a system, this is a business!”, is screeched, this time Jonny Hall duels with Reynolds to see who can scream the loudest. ‘Don’t Touch That Dial’ and ‘A Great Idea Bastardised’ also receive facelifts. ‘DTTD’ has always been bonkers, this shake up has only emphasised it’s off the wall nature. Not only angrier than ever, it’s classier too. A full minute and a half of lulled guitars, strings and keys. Aww, they do have a softer side after all.
In the set since late 2014, we are finally treated to studio versions of ‘Mope’ and ‘White Devil’. Hooray! Paul Shelley presents rumbling basslines, all of which feature heavily on both tracks, especially rambunctious is the introduction to ‘Mope’. The off-kilter rattling’s of the bass do incite horrendous dancing, all be it before the song gleefully evolves into incoherent screams and bastard hard riffs. Any flow the track did have, dissipates entirely as things grind to a screaming halt.
The title is a marathon in itself: ‘I. See The Old Lady Decently II. Buried Although III. Amongst Those Left Are You’, it has a beefy running time to boot. Sixteen minutes. But never fear, despite its daunting length the band don’t go all Dreamtheater on us. Not only does the gargantuan track encompass every aspect of Heck’s prodigious back catalogue, it has an interesting narrative too. Based on a series of unwritten books by B.S Johnson, the song is made up of three parts, each making sense on their own or as a full sentence. Tom Marsh essentially kicking the shit out of his drums is at this point, a no brainer. Upon each visit to the beaten down kit, invention, power and unmatched levels of athleticism are guaranteed. An utterly ridiculous guitar solo gives Slash a run for his money, a sexy rock n rock style solo in the midst of a mammoth hardcore/prog song? What’s wrong with that? Heck don’t even understand the concept of boundaries, and that’s what makes this album so great.
“I wouldn’t say it was a new found confidence; our desire to experiment with this stuff has always been there,” Reynolds explains. “The album just gave us the space to explore a lot more and we took advantage of that. We always wanted the album to be a bit of a journey and hopefully we’ve gone a little bit of the way to achieving that. Just wait for album #2, it’s going to be a prog masterpiece!”
Alongside breaking things up and down the country, Heck will be spinning tunes from ‘Instructions’ out on a UK tour in March. Joining them are Belgium’s answer to The Dillinger Escape Plan, Raketkanon. If you’re going down to a show, I suggest you take a crash helmet with you.
“What’s your address? We’ll be there in 3 hours, just need to pack the van first,” Reynolds laughs as I ask him if he’d play in my living room.