Dubstep is rarely upbeat or chipper: it borrows dub's weed-induced, studio-refined sense of paranoid displacement while leaving most of reggae's sweeter, more devotional qualities at the door. Distance, aka the U.K.'s Greg Sanders, is as gloomy as any of his peers, lacing his tunes with ominous little melodies that snake their stunted way through cavernous atmospheres and bone fields of snares. His debut album, My Demons, drew inspiration from sources like heavy metal and the Cure's Pornography, in addition to more conventional touchstones of U.K. soundsystem culture. It's been a successful approach: My Demons beat out recordings from fellow dark artists Burial, Rusko and Skream for Best EP/LP in 2007's Dubstep Forum awards. But on his second album, again on Planet Mu, Distance actually softens up. Tilting more Merzbow than King Tubby, My Demons was awash in jagged, hair-raising synthesizers, their stacked harmonics coming on like a swarm of bees. But Repercussions is less headbanging and more heady.