MF Doom – Metal Fingers: Special Herbs (Vols 5 & 6) (2xLP, Red Vinyl)

MF DOOM's Metal Fingers Presents: Special Herbs Vols. 5 & 6 captures one part of the huge instrumental series he issued under his Metal Fingers alias, a run that gathered beats from across 2001 to 2005 and helped show just how central production was to his world. This volume was originally released in 2004, and it sits in the middle of a sequence often treated as one of the most extensive instrumental hip-hop projects of its era.

What makes these records so absorbing is the way DOOM's beat-making stands on its own. The source material describes the Special Herbs series as a collection spanning exclusive tracks as well as revised versions of beats he used for himself and other artists, and the music pulls from a wide range of sounds: 70s soul and funk, 80s R&B, rap nostalgia, and snippets from children's records and television. On Vols. 5 & 6, that approach gives the album real range, from the dry swing of "Pennyroyal" to the eerie pull of "Coffin Nails" and the head-nodding haze of "Dragon's Blood."

This 2025 vinyl return matters because it brings the set back into print with newly designed packaging, and for this edition the album is pressed on coloured vinyl for the first time. For anyone who knows DOOM mainly as an MC, these sides are a strong reminder that his sample craft, pacing, and off-centre sense of texture were just as distinctive as his voice.

Features

• 2xLP, Apple Red Vinyl
• Pressed on coloured vinyl for the first time
• Custom top-opening die-cut gatefold jacket with removable “rolling paper” poster insert
• Printed record sleeves and marketing sticker
• Back in print with all new packaging

Reviews

• The Herbs are an essential buy for 21st-century beat freaks. - Pitchfork