Much has certainly been made of the increasingly diverse dubstep scene emerging from London’s satellite district of Croydon, with producer Beni Uthman (AKA Benga) easily emerging as one of the big five practitioners of that style, alongside, Skream, Burial, Pinch and Kode 9. For that reason alone perhaps, this ‘debut’ album from Benga Diary Of An Afro Warrior (there’s been minimal press attention to his preceding self-released 2006 Newstep collection) represents one of dubstep’s most high-profile collections this year, with some press pundits even optimistically tipping it as being poised for Massive Attack/Reprazent style crossover success. Whatever your own individual take on Diary is, there’s certainly no disputing that with the 14 tracks gathered here, he’s managed to craft an album that should please both the newcomers and hardcore scenesters equally, in that it definitely represents one of dubstep’s most approachable collections yet, while still clinging closely to the established fundamentals of the genre.

Opening track Zero M2 certainly aptly encapsulates this strategy in action, emerging delicate from an airy wash of jazzy snares and plucked shamisen-esque tones, before a warm walking double-bass part locks down amidst the clicking off-beats and the entire track lifts off towards contemporary electro-soul vibes – just as you’re starting to get complacent, the evil-sounding sub-bass pulses and grinding synths arc out like treacherous sonic tentacles, in a moment that plunges things straight to the darkside. First single Night, a co-production alongside regular collaborator Coki meanwhile provides plenty of panacea for the purist dubstep heads, dropping things to the bottom of the ocean as vast ripples of sub-bass roll beneath a complex, flickering backdrop of electronic tones that calls to mind some computer short-circuiting arrhythmically (check out the squid-related clip below for the full effect), before the appropriately-titled E Trips suggests a chemically-induced rave rush as squealing acid synths race back and forth over a jackhammering backdrop of house-meets-breakstep snare rhythms. While Pleasure’s sickly-smooth android female vocals represent perhaps the one slightly jarring moment here, closing track Loose Synths more than makes up for any miss-step, winding things out with a robotic collision of snake-like synth growls, air-pushing sub-bass rumbles and intricately dancing drum programming that rounds proceedings off beautifully.

In this particular instance, the hype surrounding Benga proves to be more than deserved.

Check out the hypnotic clip for Night from the album…