Scuba

Paul Rose's new album as Scuba was apparently influenced by his experience at Japan's Labyrinth Festival, a booking that raised eyebrows among its more techno-purist attendees. Nevertheless, he did the business there and 10 tracks of BPM-hopping, emotion-laced techno have followed. From the off, Rose doesn't make it easy for you. The piercing screeches and demonic low-end rumbles in 'Levitation' announce his new vision – and it's not a pleasant one.

'Why You Feel So Low' brings things back to familiar territory with a rolling groove and fierce drive, but then 'Television' grabs you by the scruff of the neck and hauls you back to less comfortable territory. It's well produced, but constantly stops and starts, gaining momentum and then letting it slip away again. 'Drift' is a fairly pleasing, twisted interlude, but then 'PCP' comes charging in unrelentingly. 'All I Think About Is Death' is as bleak as the title, and 'Needle Phobia' again steals all the pace that's been created so far.

The problem with this album is that it's stuck firmly between the dancefloor and a pair of headphones. It just doesn't have the unifying vision of either 'Personality' or 'Triangulation', and it shows. 'Claustrophobia' is by no means a bad album, it's just as confused as the crowds at Labyrinth must have been. But hopefully – as the crowd did with his performance there – listeners will buy into Scuba's latest creation.