Just when I thought I'd sublimated all those rock urges-- crotch grabbing, big hair and bongification-- here comes a sharp, mean album that spins my head around, slapping it with a ball-peen hammer on every rotation. Gently placing the fragments back together in my skull with Krazy Glue, I smirkingly think that it was bound to happen (in fact, it already had.)

Somewhere between the phat-beat of electro/ drum-n-bass and the 4/4 guitar stylings of mainstream rock, industrial music leaked forward to fill the gap-- some artists leaned toward the rock cult- of- personality in both their style and sound (Trent Reznor), others were satisfied merely to distill beats to their rawest forms (Meat Beat Manifesto, Panacea), creating beautifully aggressive, repetitive exercises. It seemed to fill the void, and everybody was happy. Well, I was, anyway, and that's what counts.

Then, out came Ultra Obscene, spanning some imagined void between the goth-industrial cultsters and the mean-beat DJs. This recent project from Roni Size, DJ Die and vocalist Leonie Laws, seems both groundbreaking and tired, venerable and boring. An enigma on a shiny compact disc. I scratch my chin and ponder this enigma. Hmm...

Ultra Obscene combines edgy drum-n-bass production with Laws' decidedly harsh nubian vocals to form a hybrid entity that succeeds on some fronts, and fails in others. Size's last release, 1997's critically-acclaimed 2xCD, New Forms, held its greatest fascination in Size's distinctive breakdowns and dynamic shifts in focus and intensity. In contrast, Ultra Obscene holds a shallow, frenetic pace, and the lyric- driven songs, while intense, lack the interesting dynamics that made New Forms so compelling.

Breakbeat Era have succeeded in creating a harsh, fast- moving, claustrophobic atmosphere at the cost of listenability. Sure, Laws' delivery possesses the emphatic tone of a real rocker. And that's totally appropriate for the lyrical content, which range from the paranoid to the disturbing. (Yes, it's as diverse as it sounds.) The problem is, the beats get lost on most tracks, playing second fiddle to Laws' front- and- center "vox."

It could be said that Ultra Obscene is trying to do too much. Rather than serving as a centerpiece to the songs, the beats here act more like a framework upon which to run up Laws' flag. That's why I have the nagging feeling that what I'm listening to is rock. The guys are clearly more focused on what is being said than how. They prefer beating their hooks into the ground rather than breaking them down in supreme style, and rebuilding them. So, no, it's not bad, but it's ultimately unfulfilling.

My verdict: Ultra Obscene is eminently disposable. While the album may bring to the mainstream a few ideas that haven't yet reached MTV, nothing on the record is terribly important, entertaining or lasting. Go with Meat Beat Manifesto, if you must.

-James P. Wisdom