When Chuck D proclaimed "Bass, how low can you go?" on Public Enemy's anthemic 'Bring the Noise,' maybe he was pre-empting or inciting the 10,000 fathoms-deep, spine-bending basslines and sub-quake tremors of Implosion. Implosion 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" (Fiedler) and "brutally minimal" (Martin). This proves that opposites can attract, even if their tools are different and their methods sometimes diverge. From such a disparate combo, hailing from different geographical and aesthetic backgrounds, contrasts are certainly on display, even within each artist's own contributions. From the melancholia and transcendence of 'Alien Virus (West Indian Centre, Leeds),' to the duality of ascension and descension on 'Hope,' or the Sunn 0))) in dub, visceral drone of 'Dread (The End, London),' to the tripped-out repetitions of 'Midnight,' which reinvents Chain Reaction for post-millennials, the result is both sacred and narcotic. Each track illuminates the emotional impact and atmospheric pressure being explored across this deceptively sparse album — a mastery of tone and texture. Hooked (Hyams Gym, Leytonstone) In the Zone Believers (Imperial Gardens, Camberwell) Hope Burial Skank (Arches, Vauxhall) Dub Remote Alien Virus (West Indian Centre, Leeds) Down Militants (The Rocket, Holloway) Into the Mystic Dread (Mass, Brixton) Midnight
