The long awaiting full length Dub album from Groundation has arrived, tracks from both ‘Hebron Gate’ and ‘We Free Again’ are used to create a heady mix of jazz influenced dub. If you already enjoy the groundation sound then your gonna love this release, and for those of you who have overlooked this mighty new force in reggae, this will, without doubt, leave you wanting more.
Dub Wars reinforces the whole ‘Groundation’ feeling, it takes the primitive, spiritual energy of the music to a new level. It has depth, feeling and passion, overlaid with subtle, and effective, dub effects. One aspect of the original albums which made them so powerful is Harrison Staffords very distinctive vocal style, none of which has been lost on this release. His raspy, yet mesmerizing voice is put to very good use; echoing forth in an almost primordial dub style, adding to the mystical and hypnotic sound of the album, listen to ‘The Mountain’ and ‘Feel Jah’s Dub’ for excellent examples. (I still find it difficult to believe that Harrison is a young white American and not a veteran Jamaican singer!). Another stand-out factor of dubbing up the Groundation sound is the Jazz influence that runs through the music; it adds a whole new characteristic, revealing the impressive depth of the Groundation sound.
It’s hard to pick any single track as the highlight, but personally it’s got to be ‘Dub Rise’, the dub version of ‘Dem Rise’ from ‘We Free Again’. This cut will hypnotize you and then carry you, on a wave of dubbed up Nyabinghi drumming and jazzy dubbed horns, to a wonderfully spiritual place.
Impressive, original stuff, highly recommended.
Review by 'JumpUp'
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