[Hessle Audio]

Dubstep at 124 beats per minute? What with Pinch’s recent releases on Swamp 81 and this Hessle Audio debut from London/Berlin wunderkind Objekt, you’d think this almost were a “thing.” Sure, “Cactus” isn’t really dubstep, but it sure sounds like it. Lurching to life with a demented swagger — those tough, deadened drums halfway between techno and metallic dubstep that have become Objekt’s trademark — “Cactus” lets off little squiggles of LFO that sound like they crawled out from under the remnants some old Coki dubplate. When it finally drops, it’s a doozy, all thundering subs and mean, wiggling LFO: it doesn’t get much more dubstep than this, really, except that it sounds like a garage track having a conniption fit. The track is remarkably unfriendly to DJs, unpredictable and strangely built, but chances are you’ll know it from Ben UFO’s Rinse CD from last year, where its brutal second drop made one of the highlights of an already fantastic mix.

A slow, pounding track with obnoxious LFO wobbles might not sound like the most ideal thing in 2012, but “Cactus” pulls it off perfectly, largely thanks to Objekt’s absolutely incredible sound design skills. There’s a stark spatiality that renders every move inflated and fearsome, but there’s also a vivacity to his sounds that feels missing from so much limp, lifeless bass music these days. Every sub-bass squall is gut-wrenching, the drums are like pistons, and the slowly swimming hi-hats slice through eardrums like butter. It’s that grasp of mixing, pacing and structuring that makes the single’s B-side even stronger: “Porcupine” immediately feels like a speed demon in comparison, cycling through a demonic military march looped at all the wrong points so it has a similar terrifying stagger to “Cactus.” It continues in this fashion for a while, as the bass line mutates and contorts behind it; but the track’s really all about the breakdown, wherein the drums dissolve into billowing pockets of dub techno gloss, slippery, iridescent chords that dissipate and bloat at will until the drums come crashing back in coated in filmy synths. It’s the best dub techno never made.

Exhilaratingly propulsive and powerful without resorting to outright brutality, there’s some sort of alchemy involved in the way Objekt fuels his tracks, the sort of building energy that’ll have you doing embarrassing air drumming moves before you even realize it. Previous tracks like “CLK Recovery” showed a restless spirit venturing through epic techno odysseys, but his Hessle Audio debut has him more focused and ferocious than ever, the distilled essence of a producer whose sound was already reduced to the point of monochrome. No producer since Peverelist has made cold grey machinery sound so brilliant, and “Cactus” is an incredibly exciting return for a label that’s been quiet for over half a year now.