Doom - Born Like This

Rating: * * *

From the chiselled mask he wears to the mix of petulant beats and ominous rhymes he calls music, Doom has been one of hip-hop's more memorable and maverick performers of the 2000s.

His best work has included the classic Madvillainy from 2004 with producer Madlib and The Mouse and The Mask as DangerDoom in 2005 with producer Danger Mouse. Both albums were a clash of bouncy and deranged beats with Doom's blend of lyrical hilarity and nous.

On those records his cohorts handled production duties and he looked after lyrics. Interestingly, on his latest solo work he does most of the music, and it's typically dark and innovative, but lyrically Doom's tongue is getting tired. While he's still clever and never lost for words his poly-syllabic rantings are starting to sound monotone and lacking the power of engagement like they did in the past. Microwave Mayo has a sluggish flow and retro lines like "Jake the Snake on ketamine" and the A-Team references are treading the same old ground.

The most impressive and cutting track is Supervillainz, with it's electric lash of beats, fruity vocoder, and a range of vocalists injecting some punch, but it's stranded near the rear of the album; and Cellz is another gloomy gem with rogue writer Charles Bukowski reading his poem Dinosauria, We (from which Doom took the album's title) over the top of a nervy, doomsday soundtrack.

Scott Kara