** DMX

BLOOD OF MY BLOOD, FLESH OF MY FLESH

(Def Jam)

DMX could have added Sweat of My Brow to the title. It's been just a year since he released his debut album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, on Def Jam, a year in which he found time to star in Hype Williams's destined-for-cult-reassessment movie Belly and successfully defend himself against sexual-assault charges. But though Blood of My Blood is proof of a well-developed work ethic, it feels like a rush job, a triumph of visibility over substance, full of canned gunfire and humorless bitch baiting. DMX's trademark bark sounds choked, the production is paper-thin, and Jay-Z (in a brief guest shot on "Blackout") gets all the best lines.

DMX's real problem is that he's too good at portraying himself as cold-hearted. When he tries to get vulnerable, he's graceless -- it's tough to get choked up when an unrepentant nihilist tells you his only friends growing up were pit bulls. Even Mary J. Blige, who's practically made a second career out of helping bad muthas get in touch with their softer side on songs like Method Man's "All I Need," can't make him sound sensitive on the pensive "Coming From." "The Omen," which seems a lot closer to DMX's heart, features a more appropriate voice croaking the hook: Marilyn Manson.

-- Alex Pappademas