It's been fun to watch Nick Manasseh hone his craft over the past 15 years. Always a master of traditional dub and a producer able to coax consistently pleasing performances from his various British and Jamaican cohorts, he has gradually gotten more and more adventurous; at the time of this album, he is at the point where his rock-solid rhythms and creative production style are in a constant state of constructive tension, resulting in tracks that often threaten to fly off the rails but never quite do. Working with fellow producer the Equalizer, Manasseh here delivers what may be his finest effort yet. "Dub Temper," with its crazy sound effects and languid one-drop beat, would sound quite at home on an On-U Sound compilation (and yes, that's a compliment); "Lik a Nyabinghi" features some blissfully cathartic vocals from someone named Skellian, while "Skenga" is straight-up ska with vocals by Knati (who appears on several other tracks) and "Night Train Version," amazingly, manages to skank along very naturally in 5/4 time. Everything is drenched in that wet, smoky, mystical dub-wise atmosphere that fans of roots reggae breathe like oxygen, but nothing here sounds run-of-the-mill or hackneyed. That's no mean feat. Very highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson