Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug) Influences

Sub Zero by Kevin Richard Martin's has finally got a full physical release, after going out in digital only form on Bandcamp back in 2022. His music as 'The Bug' is well known and respected, but this earlier release as Kevin Richard Martin explores a slower, deeper, noise-dub sound which has been remastered for 2026. This article from Juno explores some of his influences, an excerpt is below as well as a track off the album...
 

To give you an even clearer insight into Martin's boldest and deepest solo affair to date, we challenged Martin to discuss ten albums that either inspired Sub Zero, "subliminally, covertly, overtly, atmospherically, stylistically, aesthetically or incidentally," These are those albums:

1/ Thomas Koner – Permafrost

When I first heard Köner's debut 'Nunatek Gongamur' I was floored by it's desolate ambience. And 'Permafrost' was the third and final part of his unforgettably immersive trilogy. 'Permafrost' is the most minimal and moody of the three releases. He recorded the sound of gongs underwater with contact mics, then drenched those drones in fx and dedicated the music to Ernest Shackleton's tragic arctic expedition.

The absolutely stunning redefinition of ambient struck all the right chords with me and many producers at that time. Barely recognised, submerged melodies so slow and blurred that the peripheral soundscapes formed eternal symphonies of melancholy, I am still smitten by the glacial, sub heavy isolationism. So haunting, so sparse, these majestic masterpieces sound like Ligetti's '2001' classics set adrift in the deepest of space. 

2/ Gil Melle – Andromeda Strain OST

An album that still paralyzes me with future shock. Composer Melle, constructs a unique sound palette with extreme sonic synthesis and fx mutilation in highly skilled sound design from 1971. I believe it was in fact, the first all electronic film scores to ever be released.

Fittingly, a dystopian sci fi narrative which predicts a virul outbreak that threatens to kill off humanity, the sinister music pre-empts Autechre and Mika Vainio with ease, as its avant pulsations and discordant melodies thrive on narrative tension. His self made instruments combine Musique Concreté techniques with free jazz intensity chillingly. Anyone who digs Hancock's 'Sextant' or the 'Forbidden Planet' OST, will find essential nourishment here.

3/ Burial – Untrue

An absolute classic. Mandatory goosebumps. Still breathtaking in terms of mood and fragility. I could easily have picked his s/t debut too.. Burial masterfully balances disparate emotions, as love then loss, allow space for femininity and vulnerability to flourish. And despite never being a two step garage head, the offbeat rhythm programming still magnetise me to his highly original sound. His ear for blue melodies is 2nd to none, and he makes romance feel absolutely vital.

Read the full article here https://www.juno.co.uk/junodaily/2026/02/26/ten-albums-that-shaped-kevin-richard-martins-sub-zero/

Get the album on Bandcamp https://kevinrichardmartin.bandcamp.com/album/sub-zero

The 2026 remaster is here

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