Album: Pendulum, Immersion (Warner Bros)

Having switched from drum'n'bass to rock on In Silico, Pendulum immerse themselves in techno-rock riffing of negligible subtlety or originality.

Steamroller cuts like "Salt in the Wounds" and "Under the Waves" are stuffed with bustling beats, riffing guitars and squealing synths, recalling Slab and Apollo 440. The Prodigy's Liam Howlett, the real genius behind this style, guests imperceptibly on "Immunize". Elsewhere, the two-part suite "The Island" and the presence of Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson hints at a dubious prog-rock leaning which reaches its apogee on "Watercolour", with its marching prog keyboards over a hustling drum'n'bass beat. It comes across like some ghastly collaboration between Goldie and Genesis – a textbook case of the worst of both worlds.

DOWNLOAD THIS Salt in the Wounds; Under the Waves