mplosion is a crushing split album, appropriately released on The Bug's own PRESSURE label. Mapping out a new form of spectral dub, the sound is deliberately immersive, introverted, and yes, definitely implosive. In pursuit of heavy lids, blurred vision, and merciless bass bin punishment, it's one part meditation, two parts low-end theory, and essentially a confession of devoted sound system addiction. As expected from a tag team featuring British soundlab explorer and "London Zoo" composer Kevin Martin, aka The Bug, and Michael Fiedler, aka Jah Schulz -- a long-time graduate of Germany's new school of sound system reggae culture -- the duo approaches their target differently yet share the goal of keeping their sound "raw" and "brutally minimal". Each track illuminates the emotional impact and atmospheric pressure being explored across this deceptively sparse album -- a mastery of tone and texture. This collection might be as reduced, minimal, and deep as The Bug has ever gone, perhaps echoing the solemnity of his recent Kevin Richard Martin Black release and invoking the futurist steppas self-pioneered on his previous Pressure album. Alternatively, Fiedler's Ghost Dubs project ventures into his most heavyweight direction yet, which is no mean feat considering his previous, the critically acclaimed album Damaged, was a monstrously massive triumph of analogue weight and enviable sound design. Implosion is ice-cool, a stark contrast to the warmth and sociability of traditional Jamaican roots and the current trends in digi-dub. Instead, the mood is soaked in tension and intense dread, finding an unexpected melting point where classic dub's stark rhythm attack, isolationist ambience's eerie drift, dub techno's floatation strategies, and even the relentless riffs of doom metal collide. The super heavyweight pulsations, emotive resonances, and bone-rattling vibrations detonated here effortlessly go far beyond the artists' influences. Shadowy and elusive, there's a mysteriousness at this record's core. A haunting moodiness oscillating between nostalgia and future shock. Implosion is a testament to being enveloped in bass, seduced by bass, submerged in bass, and utterly crushed by bass, as The Bug and Ghost Dubs seek to craft a new form of dub for zonal headz and Babylon seekers. Mastered by Stefan Betke (a.k.a. POLE) at Scape Mastering studio.
