Dope - Life

Dope have got attitude, that much can be said. It's also the reason that they're SO DAMN LISTENABLE even after cumulative hours of hard, ass-kicking industrial metal. Life is the first album of theirs that I heard, and it blew me away so to speak, no sexual pun intended.

Seeing as I have mainly good things to say about this album, I may as well start off with the things I don't particularly like. May seem weird but it's getting them out of the way. The first song, 'Take Your Best Shot', despite being rhythmic and sufficiently heavy, is somewhat repetitive and quite boring. The entire song is effectively repeating the chorus which isn't even that good. There is also, like so many other albums I have listened to, an irritating lapse in awesomeness near the end, with songs made to be skipped like 'Crazy', 'Jenny's Cryin'' (AWFUL song) and 'Slipping Away'. They tend to be extremely boring and become background noise.

Then, of course, are the good things about the album. The riffs, whilst not technically impressive, sound so damn good on high volume, as in the exact sorta stuff you would wanna see at a gig. They incorporate electronic whines and effects to seriously pick up the pace until you're so into it you would blow your own brains out if they told you to. Their choruses are another great feature, listen to 'Nothing', 'Now Or Never' and 'What About' and you should see what I mean. Despite them being a bad-ass, constantly pissed off band these choruses do actually portray emotion pretty damn well. Last and definitely not least (seeing as it's what I think is THE best bit about Dope) is their attitude that rings out like being kicked in the bollocks in all of their best songs. 'Die Motherfucker Die', 'Thanks For Nothing', 'March of Hope' and my favourite of the album 'You're Full of Shit' are undoubtedly the killer examples. Listen and be absorbed. Seriously the album is worth your dough even if only for those four songs I reckon.

But yeah, I think this is actually listenable for fans of Nu and Industrial Metal, and maybe even general rock listeners. They're not overly heavy, they just enjoy swearing and partying. Though I do get the feeling that Dope might not be so well enjoyed by Death, Black or Thrash metal devotees, I think they're worth a shot.

Bloodbath - Resurrection Through Carnage

This is Bloodbath's first album, and so as i usually do with a bands first album, is have a little sympathy on it. However, this really doesn't need sympathy. At all. It's a GREAT album. Bloodbath are a Death metal ( Although I think they sound more Old School Death Metal....but apparently no...just new school) band from Sweden, and as I found out quite recently...they're a SUPERGROUP. They have guys from Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade, October Tide, Hypocrisy, Witchery and Satanic Slaughter. Pretty epic, eh? Anyway, the review. Bloodbath are...not exactly what you would call a "typical" metal band. They use a weird unique guitar effect throughout all of their songs, which REALLY works. They have a good consistent rhythm throughout, epic choruses in most songs, and sick as shit guitar solos like EVERYHWERE. The vocals are also unique...they're sort of rasping low vocals, which I have yet to hear in another band. They have a good mix of songs, from the funky ones like “Mass Strangulation” and “Buried By The Dead” to the rather creepy evil ones like “Death Delirium”. I won't bother talking about the lyrics as I'm pretty sure you can guess form the song titles and the band name.

I'm giving this album 4/5 for being awesome, however there is certainly room for improvement in the band. I think this would definitely be a good buy for death metal fans, however for other people it might probably be a bit of a no-no, generally, I would advise checking them out first anyway, just in case they aren't your thing.

Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star Volume IV: Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

Ok, the name of the album isn't exactly practical for saying in one go, and they're not that heavy, but honestly, I think C&C's epic album at least deserves a mention from the thousands of times I have been able to listen to this album without getting bored. And by the way, when I say C&C I DO NOT mean Command and Conquer. On with the review...

Surprisingly enough, I got into this band through my sister. This is unusual because not only is her music somewhat.... softer than my taste allows but also because I usually get irritated by her music being played at 10 million decibels in the next room. But Coheed and Cambria was always something good to be heard because even though the voice is almost timid and the guitars never grind like steel on pavement I would always find myself air guitaring madly. The album is, like all of their records, a concept one, based on the storyline of the man and woman called Coheed and Cambria (shockingly). This is the turning point which is meant to be the demise of the characters, hence the violent lyrics in most of songs; 'a selfish little whore, if I had my way I'd crush your face in the door', and 'you burn in hell while they're digging you out' are good examples. These lyrics may be harsh, yet they fit creepily well with the backing music. I imagine the approval of the vocals will be like Marmite and Avenged Sevenfold: love or hate, because they do not scream, barely shout and even whisper some of the time. The guitar parts are fantastic, in particular the third track 'Welcome Home', where the guitarist shreds it out to a pinch harmonic almost every bar at one point, and has a 2 minute solo near the end.

I realise this review is getting long, so to cut it short, this is an impressive piece of work, and ANY prog metal fans should be quick to buy this. However, for any thrash, death or black metal fans this is a big no-no. I give it 4/5 for its brilliant guitars and bass parts, but although I enjoy the vocals, I don't love them. Have a listen and decide I think is the only answer.