DOPE

Blood Money Part Zer0

EPOD

8.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. No Respect
02. Believe
03. Best Of Me
04. Choke
05. Dead World
06. Misery
07. Love Song
08. Dive
09. Parasite
10. Row
11. Fuck It Up
12. Wide

New York City's DOPE broke out of the late 1990s industrial metal scene, offering the next generation of MINISTRY and NINE INCH NAILS-style electro metal. Today, founding member and lead singer Edsel Dope continues to shake things up, whether it's releasing fresh music or addressing questions about if he's STATIC-X's mystery touring singer, Xer0.

Now, DOPE are back with their seventh studio album, "Blood Money Part Zer0", the follow-up to the 2016's "Blood Money, Part 1". The group has released the new album incrementally over the course of several months. They're also giving the album away for free digitally to those who sign up for the download via the band's official website.

"Blood Money Part Zer0" begins with a rager, "No Respect", a fast, cutting, in-your-face industrial track. From there, the set stays at that high-octane pace with the nu-metal anthem "Believe", a song that highlights Edsel's clean singing. On "Believe", Edsel soars and sings about believing in love amid pulsating rhythms and melodic guitars.

"Blood Money Part Zer0" never really slows down, as it moves from one heavy hitter to the next. "Best of Me", "Choke", "Misery" and "Parasite" are among the heaviest songs on the record, displaying Edsel's versatile vocals and the band's penchant for thickly distorted riffs, cutting breakdowns and throbbing electro beats.

One of the most pleasant surprises on "Blood Money Part Zer0" is DOPE's cover of THE CURE's "Love Song". The band truly puts their own spin on the classic, with the vocals taking on a cool echo effect and the track's instrumental backing offering a trippy electronic vibe.

Elsewhere, "Row" has a super dance-y beat and shifting rhythms, while the album's closer, "Wide", is a nu-metal plea for help, seeing Edsel with his crunchiest and angst-iest vocals ever. From start to finish, "Blood Money Part Zer0" is a sonic assault, proudly proving that industrial metal isn't a fad — it is and always will be a way of life.

DOPE have never lacked for vision or inspiration, and that comes across here. While most of these songs should get moshers fired up, the album's true strength is in its high-energy delivery and nu-metal tradition, which should make "Blood Money Part Zer0" a lasting album in DOPE's collection.

Author: Anne Erickson

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