Implosion by The Bug vs Ghost Dubs

Release Dates
Bandcamp Digital : 14th November 2025
Vinyl / Stream / Digital : 21st November 2025
There will be two editions of the vinyl...
A 'DINKED' ltd edition on coloured vinyl with a free additional 12" ft the extra digital tracks 13-16.
And the standard edition which will ft tracks 1-12 on black double LP.

Press release :
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.

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. As the bass-obsessed pair drop what is arguably the heaviest ambient dub album to emerge from any electronic sector—a moody counterpoint to The Orb's fluffy clouds, etc, Martin has cited The Roots Radics, Black Jade, and On U Sound's Pounding System as heavily influencing his approach to the album, while Fiedler has expressed his admiration for Adrian Sherwood's productions and Rhythm & Sound's enchanting soundscape. Yet, the super heavyweight pulsations, emotive resonances, and bone-rattling vibrations detonated here effortlessly go far beyond these influences.

Shadowy and elusive, there’s a mysteriousness at this record's core. A haunting moodiness oscillating between nostalgia and future shock. Despite the deadly fixation with SLOW and HEAVY, the album maintains a totally hypnotic swing throughout. Implosion and its lead single 'Imploded Versions' are testaments 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, this record is heavy as f-ck without resorting to continuous distortion. It’s low-end worship taken to an absolute extreme, yet remains highly listenable and definitely danceable, albeit at the slowest of paces. Sacred and narcotic, this is low-end worship amplified to the max. Dive in if you dare.

As The Bug, Kevin Martin’s music is built from an overwhelmingly explosive sub-bass pressure, with relentless in-the-red beat production that amplifies mutant industrial sound design, fuzzed, expectant crackle, and bleak greyscale harmonics. Over decades of diverse and storied projects and releases, Martin has earned a reputation as a subverter of expectations. In 2008 - after his gritty, tumultuous album London Zoo, where he and his long-term collaborator Flowdan delivered the instant classic ‘Skeng’ - he unexpectedly formed the new trio King Midas Sound, whose mix of spoken word poetry and Japanese-language vocals (performed by British-Trinidadian dub poet Roger Robinson and WaqWaq Kingdom’s Kiki Hitomi, respectively) created a storytelling approach new to his work. Further collaborations followed as his range and output grew. He worked with long-established experimental composer Fennesz, post-metal pioneers Earth, and even the rarefied, mournful drone-folk of solo artist Grouper, each bringing new dimensions to his sound. In 2019, after the trauma of his son’s problematic birth, he abandoned all aliases and released Sirens, a deeply emotional exploration of dread and paternal love set in the most isolated ambient territory, winning rave reviews.

Michael Fiedler gained international recognition in 2024 with the Ghost Dubs album Damaged, released on The Bug's own PRESSURE label. The Stuttgart-based artist crafted a wholly original fusion of low-end pressure, live dub techniques, and industrial sound aesthetics which, although inspired by traditional dub/roots, dub techno, and even shoegaze or drone, captured many listeners’ attention with Fiedler's futuristic sound design and mesmerising, slo-mo dubbed gyrations. Previously known and established under his alias JAH SCHULZ, he is a graduate of Germany’s vibrant dub/reggae sound system scene. It was through that scene that he first released international records, performed at festivals, and developed legendary live dub shows where he began rearranging tracks in real time. Under the name JAH SCHULZ, he founded and co-owned Infinite Density Records and released music on various other labels, including Echo Beach, Green King Cuts, and Basscomesaveme. He also gained support from major international sound systems such as Iration Steppas, King Shiloh, Jah Shaka, and Blackboard Jungle, who regularly feature Jah Schulz tracks in their sets.

Ken Li 2025