Dr. Dooom has been called into the operating theater to finish off Dr. Octagon ... again.

Normally I wouldn't review a single, especially only one with two vocal tracks; but a new album by Dr. Dooom is quite exciting and who knows if the full album will ever be released (as with 7th veil). For those that don't know, Kool Keith created Dr. Dooom back in 1999 to kill Dr. Octagon and separate himself from the Octagon image. Since 1999 there have been 3 Octagon flavoured records released: Dr. Octagon Part II (commercial bootleg), Nogatco Rd and The Return of Dr. Octagon (somewhat dubious release), so I guess it's no surprise that Keith wants him killed off again.

As soon as you hit play it is instantly going to take you back to the first Dr. Dooom album 'First Come, First Served', more specifically the track 'Apartment 223'. On the mic Dooom immediately takes a swipe at the 'The Return of Dr. Octagon' album:

I know I killed Dr. Octagon,
Now how they gonna come back with some type of return?

R.I.P. Dr. Octagon

Then the Octagon fans and critics (myself included) that praised it so much get told once again to let Octagon go:

I stabbed him over 17 times,
But you people out there wouldn't let him die,
Y'all put him on the respirator,
The critics that gave him mouth to mouth resuscitation was a hater.

R.I.P. Dr. Octagon

The pace of Keith's delivery is intentionally slowed down to a story telling pace and the rest of the song continues with the methods used to kill Octagon and why he needed to go. The chorus takes another swipe at 'The Return of Dr. Octagon' and 'Dr. Octagon Part II':

No wack remixes or duplicated copy,
Octagon is deceased!

R.I.P. Dr. Octagon

While the production is a great throwback, the lyrics don't seem to be as creative/inspired as you might expect from Kool Keith.

The next track 'Surgery' features long time collaborator Motion Man, and as usual when Motion and Keith team up the results are positive. This time the delivery pace is pushed up as well as the lyrical creativity. The only problem with this track (and the other) is that on the chorus Keith decides to hold a tune (almost but not quite singing). While Keith might be the worlds best rapper, I have never felt that this style suited him.

The single contains an instrumental for each track, but it would of been nice to include the accapellas so we could see some fan remixes (especially from Memory Man).

Going by this single, if the new Dr. Dooom album ever gets released then it will be a worthy successor and another Keith classic.

7.0 /10

Track Listing

1. R.I.P. Dr. Octagon (Vocal)

2. R.I.P. Dr. Octagon (Instrumental)

3. Surgery feat. Motion Man

4. Surgery (Instrumental)