Dub Terror is the brainchild of Italian dub producer Simone Lombardi, who does most of his studio work under the name Dubstudent. On his first full-length album he teams up with instrumentalists from around Europe and Asia along with a variety of reggae vocalists to create a brilliant and vibrant collection of modern reggae and dubstep compositions, about evenly divided between instrumentals and vocal numbers. Lombardi's signal achievement -- apart from his winning way with a rhythm -- is his ability to create sound structures that are rich and texturally complex but never unwieldy; even dark, foreboding tracks like the astringently dubsteppy "31st Century" and the melodica-driven "Digital Terror" have a nimbleness and flexibility in Lombardi's hands that would have done
King Tubby or even
Lee "Scratch" Perry proud. The vocal numbers are even better: "Shinobi," featuring
Echo Ranks and Santanu, beautifully blends reggae and Middle Eastern elements, while "Turn the Tide" features a brilliant speed-rap performance by
Brother Culture and "Technology" showcases both
Echo Ranks and the very fine Jah Marnyah. "Mr Terror" is something of a mystery -- no vocalist is credited, but there is a voice buried shallowly under the dubwise rhythm, and it sounds quite a bit like
Horace Andy, though the dub effects are laid on too thickly to be certain. Overall, a brilliant debut from a major modern reggae talent.