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.