Dope’s debut, Felons and Revolutionaries, laid down in 1999 the foundations of a grimy, provocative industrial metal led by the snarling Edsel Dope. Between the explosive cover of You Spin Me Round and originals like Debonaire and Pig Society, the record cultivates a greasy aggression fed by samples, simple riffs and a fully owned teenage rage.
Admittedly, the writing stays rudimentary and the band owes plenty to its elders, from Marilyn Manson to Nine Inch Nails. Yet the raw energy, the black humor and the refusal of any sophistication give the album a filthy, gleeful identity. An American suburban manifesto, imperfect but furiously effective on stage as on the turntable.
