A chance mention by a knowing friend pointed me in the direction of The Bug a few months ago. The dubby track ‘Poison Dart’ excited me no end, so when I found out that Kevin Richard Martin was releasing a double album, I was on it. The PR blurb for Machine proudly proclaims that “no speaker exists big enough to withstand its weight” in reference to the incredible sub-bass drones and beats that Martin deals out. A succinct description for the unitiated, is an “instrumental Swans in dub or Aphex Twin covered by Sunn O)))”, also taken from said blurb.
The overall mood of this album is ominous and full of intent, it’s not for the faint of heart and you need to really be prepared to submerge yourself in the entire thing in one sitting. Opener ‘Annihilated (Force of Gravity)’ has beats that push and pull like pistons releasing steam while a humongous two note bass rumble lurches like a drunken giant, stomping from one foot to the other. It’s a lot more blissful than I’ve described it! With blueprint established, ‘Shafted (Laws of AttractionRepulsion)’ opts for a similar sound with an application of scorching synth sounds like a Formula 1 race in outer space. ‘Sickness (Slowly dying)’ features minimalist dub beats and a speaker wobbling deep bass that rattles your brain no matter the volume.
The edgy ‘Vertical (Never see you again)’ opts for a stuttering beat and atmospheric synths while a noodling melody line tries to peep up from the quagmire. ‘Floored (Point of impact)’ swings like a pair of wrecking balls in the jungle as a plethora of weird and wonderful sounds filter round your head. The track features intermittent drops and every time everything kicks back in it’s monumental. There’s a filthy bass squelch on Drop (Machine Sex) that oozes out of the speakers with carnal intent. When the beats drop out of the mix there’s some bizarre groaning synth tones. The track does indeed sound like two mechanical constructions going at it.
‘Hypnotised (F-cked up)’ has a sleazy groove with a spaced out dubby synth and a whipcrack effect, like the soundtrack for some futuristic sex dungeon. You half expect Lee Scratch Perry to start his unique warble over the heavy dub groove of ‘Inhuman (Let machines do the talking)’ as skanking synths fuse with more of those engine rev synth tones. ‘Departed (Left the body behind)’ shimmers with a slippery beat while writhing synths bring a claustrophobic atmospheric.
The final trilogy of tracks begin with the mighty ‘Buried (Your life is short)’ which is reminiscent of Björk’s ‘Army of Me’ mega banger. The seismic bass roll and crisp snare claps one-two punching you with every feral loop. ‘Bodied (Send for the hearse)’ takes an eery synth tone like a dying wolf, loops it up and underpins the loop with a chopping beat while the biggest and baddest bass groove whooshes at you repeatedly knocking you off your axis with brain trembling force. Final track ‘Exit (Wasteman)’ lessens off the intensity for a calmer piece of relaxed beats and grinding bass drops, which are still pretty monstrous by most people’s standards.
Groove is king on this album as melodies are restricted by dominating bass and scorching synths filtered through God knows what effects. Whilst the album barely flinches from this template it’s a strangely absorbing listen if you just want to drop out of the rat race for an hour and chill the fuck out.
