Operation: Doomsday [Audio CD] Mf Doom

MF Doom was known in a former life as Zev Luv X of Long Island rap pranksters KMD. He reinvented himself as a super rap villain and now wears a solid steel mask to hide his face from the world. Cut through with dialogue and incidental music from the stilted 80s animation show featuring his Marvel Comics namesake (Doctor Doom, arch-foe of the Fantastic Four), Operation Doomsday has an overblown comic-book feel that rubs against the rappers everyday tales of dime-to-dime survival. In all, Doom comes across as an extraordinary guy in an ordinary setting. He may be a villain, but he has a keen sense of humour. Caught in "Rhyme and Dimes" extended bridge with nothing left to say, he resorts to screaming "mashed potatoes" at the top of his lungs. And despite the fearsome visage, musically, Doom is a smooth cat. He favours constructing tracks (like "Red and Gold", "Doomsday" and "The MIC") from loops and breaks culled from 80s soul. "Dead Bent" uses the exact same Isaac Hayes "Walk on By" break as the Wu Tang's "I Can't Go to Sleep". But teamed up with MF Grimm on "Tick, Tick" with nothing but a funereal violin for company things take a more deadly tone. And when joined by a frightful cadre of fellow MCs from his Monsta Island Czars clique (on "Who You Think I Am?") things get hella rowdy. This is one for all the tyrants and despots.--Chris Campion