by DOOMI'm not sure how to approach this album, which is the reason why I haven't attempted to write about it before now. I bought this when it first came out, played the hell out of it for a few days, and then promptly forgot it. Doom's first album in years could have easily dropped in 2004. Aside from a very ill-advised autotune hook (on 'Supervillainz'), there is nothing on this disc to show that time has moved forward.
Doom is spitting the same fire he always does, except now it seems like his flow has become monotonous, and his puerile jokes even more puerile and inconsequential (I'm looking at you 'Batty Boyz').
Beat-wise, there's not a lot to be excited about either. There are a few recycled beats ('Lightworks' always sounds good, but again, it's 2009; 'That's That' uses a favourite Special Herb, and 'Angelz' was like my favourite song of whatever year it first came out), and others that just sound like the standard Doom fare. Jake One understands Doom's aesthetic, and provides four decent tracks, although I like Madlib's better. The villain rounds out the production himself, except for one other Dilla joint.
The thing about this album is that individually, many of the songs are very strong. Arranged together, as they are here, they tend to cancel one another out, and become a little boring.
In terms of guest shots, Raekwon and Slug both provide killer verses, although Slug gets a little drowned out in the mediocrity of the people he shares his track with (who the hell is Mobonix? The Lego Moby?). I was hoping for a lot more from this album, but then, I think that's how people generally feel about Doom these days, so I shouldn't be surprised.
I will give full props to whoever designed the album art. It's clearly the same people who do work for Jneiro Jarel, and it looks great.
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