DOPE
American Apathy
Artemis Records 2005
www.dopearmy.com

Read the Edsel Dope interview

Live Dope pics

What’s the 4-1-1?
Long-awaited follow-up to 2003’s Group Therapy. This is their fourth release.

Genre
Industrial / heavy metal / hard rock

The Good
“I’m Back” will most likely be Dope’s anthem for their current tour, although they never stop touring. It’s loaded with in-your-face drums and piercing licks. “Survive” sticks with the anthem feel, but this time it’s more personal as Edsel speaks his mind about those that have tried to hold him back. On “Always, Edsel takes a more melodic approach to his vocal delivery…and it works. The chorus comes off as memorable as any rock radio track. The riff is simple, but still effective enough to stick in your head. Nothing goes hand and hand with hard rock than sex. So it only makes sense that Dope included the blood pumping song “Sex Machine”.

If that isn’t enough sexual energy for you, then “Let’s F***” will surly get your juices flowing. Edsel doesn’t mince words here. He gets straight to the point. Virus’ chunky riffs go head-to-head with Edsel’s melodic vocals on “Dream”, as Edsel shows that there is more to him than his on stage persona. Dope injects a lot more muscle into the Depeche Mode classic “People Are People”. The gang keeps things melodic so you don’t miss the importance of the songs lyrics. Always the fan friendly artist, Dope includes three bonus tracks; “Bitch (alternate version)”, “F*** tha Police 2005”, and “Burn”. There are other versions of this release that include a bonus disc of six more songs and a DVD.

The Bad
This may be Dope’s best outing yet, but unfortunately the genre is hanging onto a thread. A couple of the tracks seem a bit amateurish for a band that’s been around for a while (“F*** the World” & “I Wish I Was President”).

The Verdict
I bought the first Dope album after catching them at a live show back in 1999. I was highly disappointed. Dope has certainly improved in sound quality and song construction. Like I said earlier, American Apathy is Dope’s best album to date. It’s full of intense industrial metal with a nice splash of melodic mayhem. The album is a true testament to what Dope sounds like live.

Did You Know?
Edsel’s brother Simon studied chemistry at the University of Florida.

Rating: out of 5

--George Dionne