Unusual that Tom Jenkinson should adorn himself on the cover of his new album, maybe he feels his face is finally ready for public consumption. This is at no great risk, for anyone who has bought into Squarepusher's 10-year drill'n'bass freak show will be aware that the fruits of commercialism are not high on his agenda. In fact, following on from the previous 'Do You Know Squarepusher' mini-album, maybe even his closet allies were beginning to wonder whether Squarepusher's moments of occasional genius were becoming a little too occasional.

Ultravisitor moves along similar lines to his previous works, particularly his 'Hard Normal Daddy'/'Big Loada' era. This is no more evident that on the title track, which could have been plucked from either of those former LP's. Psycopathic breaks, madcap basslines and warbling homely keyboard melodies - amidst multiple layers of feedback and reverb - it's unmistakeable Squarepusher. 'I Fulcrum' on the other hand doffs its cap to Squarepusher's more organic inclinations, notably the bass guitar and hacked electric guitar, and 'Lambic Poetry' delights in throwing the whole shabang into the melting pot, as gentle keyboards, backed by a tinny breakbeat, build into a cataclysm of destructive percussion.

The one difference that 'Ultravisitor' demonstrates in comparison to previous works is his love for the bass guitar, and a notable live feel that, despite its vigour, allows his sequenced brutalism more space to breathe than usual. Although he has already toyed with these elements before, it's more prolonged on 'Ultravisitor', hence, tracks such as 'Andrei' would be equally at home in a blues or jazz club. '50 Cycles' on the other hand is the sort of Squarepusher track that most of us love to hate, a schizophrenic belch of filtered electronics and reversed sequences of indistinct sound. This is perhaps where Squarepusher frustrates, as this, and the following 'Menelec' take up 13-minutes of the album with their unbridled screech. When listening to Squarepusher at his most messy, you realise that there is no master plan - tracks such as these, and 'Steinbolt', are mere experiments that Squarepusher immerses himself in. As a spectator you can take it or leave it. Some work, some don't, it's the luck of the draw.

From here on the album implodes, reconstructs and reaches levels of intensity that are likely to weigh heavy on the shoulders, and none more so than the bomb blast that is 'District Line II', which features blown around drum and bass loops, frantic bass-line strumming and excruciating feedback, like a badly oiled train track indeed. However, Ultravisitor thaws on the remaining 4 tracks, particularly 'Tetra-Sync', which is Squarepusher at his best, a live audience and a percussive intro slowly build layer by layer into an involving experience, you can almost smell the grease paint, until a gently affecting strummed guitar and a 5-minute pulsating bass solo are topped with trademark Squarepusher synth lines. Of course it all ends up getting bent out of shape, leaving only the skeletal structure of its origins intact, dancing round the stage like a lunatic imposter, although some might say it's worth the entry price alone.

Squarepusher offers an olive branch on the closing two tracks, 'Tommib Help Bus' a short melodic composition he could write in his sleep and the peaceful, accoustic guitar twangs of 'Every Day I Love'. Well, he wouldn't want to alienate us completely now would he? Ultravisitor is exactly what it says on the tin, a hyped-up return to the past. It may not be new to him, or us, but compared to everyone else, it remains unique.