One year on from his sonic explorations on Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein (considered best album of 2001 over here at Parallax View), El-P continues his single-minded mission to drag hip-hop cussing and screaming into the twenty-first century with Fantastic Damage where brain-shaking basslines and sci-fi bleeps are as much to the fore as the fierce and passionate rapping. This may make it more appealing to afficionados of left-field electronica than to purist hiphop-heads but although this is a dark, dense and disturbing record there are nevertheless plentiful rewards for the patient and open-minded listener. Recommended.