The Bug : Machine

The Bug Machine review

To describe Kevin Martin as prolific would be an understatement. Since 1997, he’s used at least nine different aliases and projects to explore his varied interests. Some have been in collaboration with like-minded acts and others simply to test new creative waters, but it’s always been about the outer limits of musical expression. Across acts such as GOD, King Midas Sound, Pressure and Zonal, he’s surveyed dub, hardcore, metal, industrial, jazz, hip-hop, grime and more. But he’s best known for his work as The Bug. London Zoo, Angels & Devils, and Fire (all released on Ninja Tune) showcase a brilliant artist unafraid of dense emotional expression and aggressive sounds that reflect those feelings. 

With Machine, he offers the definitive example of his musical aesthetic. A purely instrumental release, it combines crushing sub bass, relentless industrial noise, and dirge-like pacing to deliver a post-apocalyptic assault on the senses. Released on venerable metal label Relapse, this 12-song project brings together the best tracks off five separate EPs that Martin released over the past year and a half that would test the literal capacity of the soundsystems where he was performing. We’re talking a heady amalgamation of drone metal, dancehall, ‘00s London dubstep, and ‘90s New York City hip-hop—as if Burial, GZA, Lee “Scratch” Perry and SUMAC were all combined into one seamless sound.

The Bug first lays down a thick bed of martial beats in a slow marching cadence that coalesces into a motorik approach. Aiming for a less spectral feel than earlier projects, he serves up gloomy synths with nightmarish washes of sound that build just enough of a melodic core so you think there’s space for a vocalist. Through it all, a fusion of thick bass sludge, in-the-red snare claps, snarling guitars and harrowing kick drums provide a glowering intensity that could send shivers down your spine. The result is a series of breathtaking aural explosions that rattle both guts and brains.

Machine is profound artistic statement. Exacting in execution and surreal in style, the album features nuanced rhythmic arrangements and grim moods in a hypnotic atmosphere. Across standout tracks such as “Annihilated (Force of Gravity),” “Floored (Point of Impact),” “Inhuman (Let Machines Do the Talking)” and “Bodied (Send for the Hearse),” The Bug creates jackhammer beats, scrambled melody lines, and hellish soundscapes for a post-human world. It’s less an example of what happens when technology goes wrong and more a look into what happens when we push it to its extremes.


Label: Relapse

Year: 2024


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The Bug Machine

The Bug : Machine

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