| At
the time this is written (July 2002),
Messian Dread has released 5 full albums. He
is known to be a popular online DUB artist
with a regular appearance in the various Dub
and Reggae charts on MP3.com. MESSENJAH DUB,
Messian's 3rd album is thus far his only
album with only DUB tracks. Originally
released in 2000, the album has been updated
in 2002 with new tracks and a better quality
audio. Also the cover art has been updated.
Only the front drawing remained the same.
The album starts off with a remastered
version of APOCALYPSE DUB, a very long and
intense DUB in A One Drop Style. Some
consider this to be one of Messian Dread's
best DUB tracks. The second track is also a
long one: it's the extended DUB mix from the
conscious track "Wolves".
Mystically mixed backing vocals, a tight rub
a dub style drum and bass line, majestic
horns, it's all there. After this, we go
back into a One Drop Style with a track
called Lion DUB. The mix starts of with
Messian Dread calling upon the Name of the
Most High, which is answered by the roar of
a Lion, symbolizing the Lion of Judah of
course. Listen to the heavy phasers and
reverbs on the Drums! Track number 4, Jah
Glory, is another great track in a rub a dub
style: It has been released on TANTY
RECORD's ROOTS OF DUB FUNK 2 (CD and Vinyl).
Even BBC's RADIO 1 has played it. There's a
fat, deep bass in it, played by Vicious Vic.
Back to One Drop in the fifth track with a
DUB called DUB RIGHTEOUS. This track had a
wonderful review in MP3 MAGAZINE: "And
righteous dub it is indeed. With a
surprisingly heavy bass for MP3 and a nice
spacious feel to the production, this is
definitely the one the horizontal people
should check out. You know who you
are." After this, Rub A Dub again:
Great song's call DUB with you. Heavily
reverbed snare drums, freaked out echo's on
the vocals, and a rock solid bassline. There
is enough lyrics in this DUB track for a
righteous meditation. The next track, number
7, is also in a rub a dub style and it has
the same title as one of a Pablo Moses tune:
DUBBING Is A Must. It starts off as an
instrumental, but then the tape slows down,
gets a rewind and the track starts again
with backing vocals singing the title of the
tune. There are a lot of very subtle effects
in the mix, which you can only hear after
you've listened to it a couple of times. The
8th tune on the album is a heavy duty
steppers under the name "Hardcore
Dub". The bass is low, and has a lot of
tones which the human ear can't hear, but
when played loud enough the body can feel
it! This one is not for the weak hearts,
because the mix is wild, too! Next is
another steppers DUB, simply named In A Drum
And Bass Style. It contains organs in a
haunted style, a solid bassline and heavily
phased horns. Track number ten is also based
on a Steppers Rhythm. The drums are heavily
phased and there are a lot of almost
hypnotizing echo's in it. The last five
tracks on the album are part of a series of
experiments: They are all recorded live with
Messian Dread mixing about 6 channels in
just one take. The experimentals start of
with A Handful of Dub, a super tight rub a
dub riddim with keyboard played by SURE
DREAD. The echo's are cutting like a razor
blade while the drum and the bass rock
solid. DUB Blaster is next, a lot slower and
monotonous. Slowly, the echo's are built up
until a moment comes in which Messian shows
a piece of fast movement in which many
different echo's come after each other. The
third experiment is "DUB TIL
DAYLIGHT". It was mixed after a long
and tiring day of working in a professional
studio getting tracks together for Sure
Dread and mixing music. The bassline is
aggressive and militant, and the echo's are
mystical. After this comes "Throw Mi
Corn Dubwize", again with keyboards by
Sure Dread. It's more laid back and has some
nice delays on the drums. This track also
concludes a series of experiment Messian
Dread has performed in 1999 at the
University of Bristol, UK. Apart from these
DUB's, Messian has also given some lessons
about DUB to students on that university.
MESSENJAH DUB closes of with experiment
number 5: it was recorded while Messian
Dread tested out his new mixing board with a
simple riddim. The track starts of with some
wild synthesizer sounds, then the drum and
the bass enter the mix and they play a for
while, meeting all kinds of different
effects and echo's from other instruments.
15 tracks of stricktly DUB, with a lot of
variety in the different riddims: a lot of
Rub A Dub style tracks, but also Roots
(Steppers, One Drops) and some experimentals
as a bonus. Some tracks are upfull, others
more laid back. Some DUBS are very intense,
others subtle. But each and every track is
DUBBED from the top to the very last drop.
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