DOOM, previously known as MF Doom, Victor Vaughn, King Geedorah, Zev Love X and Daniel Dumile, released his last proper solo album five years ago. At that time, he was incredibly prolific, releasing multiple albums a year with an astounding quality-to-filler ratio.

Consider: In the span of three years he released MM.. Food, Madvillainy (as Madvillain), Take Me To Your Leader (as King Geedorah), The Mouse and The Mask (as Danger Doom), Vaudeville Villain and Venomous Villain (both as Viktor Vaughn). Four of these albums are truly great, and the rest are pretty damn good. Since then, Mr. Dumile has kept a considerably lower profile with a smattering of production work, a few guests spots and a handful of tracks.

Given his relative silence, his latest, Born Like This, is like the welcome return of an old friend. The question remains, does it measure up?

The short answer, is almost. While Born Like This does not match the quality of Doom’s best work, it’s a satisfying listen with all the standard DOOM elements in place. His rhymes are as surreal and associative as ever. The production, most of which has been provided by Metal Fingers himself, delivers.

DOOM’s best albums usually contain reoccurring themes, as in the case of MM.. Food’s preoccupation with consumption, or they are held together by a playful immersion in a particular persona, best exemplified in Take Me To Your Leader. Born Like This sort of amalgamates those two. Its theme is an immersion in the DOOM persona. That may sound like a cop-out evaluation, and it is. The truth is, whatever whimsical force shapes Born Like This, it’s not as apparent or striking as we’ve come to expect.

One track needs to be mentioned, as it has in every review I’ve read. “Batty Boyz” comes off as an ignorant and anachronistic tirade against homosexuality. I’ve scoured the ‘net in the hope of finding a lucid justification for a song focused on the gay subtext of superhero comics, but try as I might I just hear a string of gay jokes. Please, someone enlighten me, because it’s got a great beat and I don’t want to have to skip it every time I play the album.

That said, Born Like This is DOOM being DOOM (or MF Doom being DOOM, I suppose.) Fans shant be dissapointed, and he may well continue to expand his audience with this mostly great album.