Dope is an American

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band from New York City, formed in 1997. The band has released six full-length studio albums with their most recent studio album, '' Blood Money Part 1'', being released in 2016. The lineup currently consists of founding member and lead singer

Edsel Dope Brian Ebejer (born March 21, 1974), known professionally as Edsel Dope, is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for nu metal/industrial metal band Dope. Dope was founded in 1997 by Edsel and his bro ...

, guitarist

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

, bassist

Acey Slade Emil John Schmidt IV (born December 15, 1974), known professionally as Acey Slade, is an American musician, perhaps best known as the bassist of the alternative metal band Dope and the former guitarist of the horror punk and glam metal act Mu ...

and drummer Daniel Fox.

History

Early days (1997–1998)

The band was founded in 1997 by songwriter and lead vocalist

. As a child, Edsel and his brother Simon Dope were separated when their parents divorced. When the two were adults, they reunited and Simon joined Edsel's band, playing keyboards, samples and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

. The pair then recruited Sloane Jentry as guitarist,

Preston Nash Preston Nash is an American musician, drummer, music educator, composer/songwriter, music producer, and former radio personality and producer. Prior to working with established artists, Nash gigged heavily, including shows at CBGB and througho ...

as drummer, and

Tripp Eisen Tod Rex Salvador (born June 29, 1965), known professionally as Tripp Eisen, is an American musician best known as the former guitarist of industrial metal band Static-X. He is the current guitarist for the band Face Without Fear, and a former m ...

as bassist. Unlike many of the popular bands from the 1990s, Dope derived their sound from influences taken from heavy metal bands and fused that with the sound of

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...

acts who had made waves earlier in the decade, such as

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

and

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...

. In their earliest days, the band sold drugs to survive and purchase instruments. Furthermore, the band name "Dope" refers to

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

, which was the common substance Edsel and Simon sold around the New York City area as shown by their early T-shirt designs, which prominently displayed

hypodermic needles A hypodermic needle (from Greek ὑπο- (''hypo-'' = under), and δέρμα (''derma'' = skin)), one of a category of medical tools which enter the skin, called sharps, is a very thin, hollow tube with one sharp tip. It is commonly used w ...

. The band also had some early connections with fellow rockers

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

; ex drummer

Ginger Fish Kenneth Robert Wilson, better known by his stage name Ginger Fish, is an American drummer primarily known for playing drums for Marilyn Manson from 1995–2011. Like Marilyn Manson, which combines the names of an iconic beauty with a serial ki ...

shared an apartment with Edsel Dope in Las Vegas during the earlier 1990s, before either of them were in their respective bands. Also, guitarist

Zim Zum Timothy Linton, more commonly known as Zim Zum, is an American rock musician-songwriter and former guitarist for Life, Sex & Death and rock band Marilyn Manson (1996–1998). His current projects are Pleistoscene, a solo project, and The Pop C ...

allowed the band to claim that they were "currently being produced by Zim Zum" on the cover of their promotional discs to help them gain a record deal. It was originally planned that Zum would produce their debut. However, he was busy recording the album ''

Mechanical Animals ''Mechanical Animals'' is the third studio album by American Rock music, rock band Marilyn Manson (band), Marilyn Manson. It was released on September 15, 1998, by Interscope Records. The album marked a major shift from the industrial metal an ...

'' at the time. Lead singer Edsel has also maintained a good friendship with ex-Manson guitarist

Daisy Berkowitz Scott Mitchell Putesky (April 28, 1968 – October 22, 2017), also known as Daisy Berkowitz, was an American musician, songwriter, composer, visual artist, and record producer. He was the co-founder of the rock band Marilyn Manson & the Spooky ...

''Felons and Revolutionaries'' (1999–2000)

Felons and Revolutionaries ''Felons and Revolutionaries'' is the debut studio album by the American nu metal band Dope. The album was released in 1999 on Epic Records and has sold over 236,000 copies in the United States, making it their best-selling album to date. It w ...

'' was created after performing on the New York City club circuit, and releasing several promotional cassettes the band was signed by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. For the album's recording, Sloane Jentry had left the band and Tripp Eisen moved to guitar, while

was brought in on bass. The album featured fourteen tracks including two covers, which were; "

Fuck tha Police "Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by American hip hop group N.W.A that appears on the 1988 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' as well as on the ''N.W.A's Greatest Hits'' compilation. The lyrics protest police brutality and racial profilin ...

" by

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

and "

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" is a song by English pop band Dead or Alive, featured on their second album, '' Youthquake'' (1985). Released as a single in November 1984, it reached No. 1 in the UK in March 1985, taking 17 weeks to get ...

" by English new wave band Dead or Alive, which featured in the movie ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of ''The Observer'' notes that while "some countr ...

''. "Debonaire" was also featured on the ''

Scream 3 ''Scream 3'' is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy ...

'' movie soundtrack and the first ''

The Fast and the Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...

'' movie during the police raid on Johnny Tran's house scene. Dope toured extensively, taking part in several national tours with various acts ranging from

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

. This helped ''Felons and Revolutionaries''

SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

more than 250,000 units in total. A live video for the song "Sick" was recorded to capture the energy of the group's live show. The first single and non-live

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

released by the band from the album was "Everything Sucks", which failed to chart. The second single, a cover of "You Spin Me Round", saw the band gaining more attention; it received radio play and reached No. 37 on the

US Mainstream Rock Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in ...

charts.

''Life'' (2001–2002)

After the relative success of their debut album, Dope decided to record a follow up entitled ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

''. Several band changes had taken place once more;

was fired from the group and joined

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

band

Static-X Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until his ...

, so

, a guitarist/producer from New York City who was originally hired for bass, replaced him on guitar in 2000. Acey Slade was moved to the position of guitar, while Sloane Jentry (who had remained friends with the band) rejoined, this time on bass. On drums, Preston Nash was replaced by Racci "Sketchy" Shay. The two singles from Life; "Now or Never" and "Slipping Away" reached No. 28 and No. 29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. The album itself reached No. 180 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

and No. 6 on the

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

, which up until that point was the band's highest charting. After the album's release, Simon Dope left the group to pursue a career as a video game producer. "Debonaire" from the first album was used in the movie ''

''. More soundtrack work was done by Dope in 2002, as the band recorded

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

chairman

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

's theme song "No Chance (In Hell)" for the ''

WWF Forceable Entry ''WWF Forceable Entry'' is a soundtrack album by WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF). Released on March 26, 2002 by Columbia Records, it features entrance music of WWE wrestlers re-recorded by various hard rock and heavy m ...

'' audio release. Dope's music had previously been used as the background theme in

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

, and

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

also used "Debonaire" as his entrance theme. Around this period, Edsel Dope also had a public rivalry with the band

Murderdolls Murderdolls was an American rock music, rock band founded during 2002 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, California. The band line-up consisted of the late Joey Jordison, Wednesday 13 , Acey Slade, Eric Griffin, Tripp Eisen and the late Ben G ...

, particularly vocalist

Wednesday 13 Joseph Michael Poole (born August 12, 1976), better known by his stage name Wednesday 13, is an American singer and musician. Apart from his solo career, he was the frontman of the horror punk/ heavy metal band Murderdolls and has also played i ...

. An early version of that group had featured Racci Shay on drums; and under the name Murderdolls, it featured

. Dope guitarist

then left the band to join Murderdolls in mid-2002.

''Group Therapy'' and ''American Apathy'' (2003–2007)

Disappointed with the label's perceived lack of promotion for the album, the band left Epic and joined Artemis Records, a New York

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

. Dope's third studio album was titled ''

Group Therapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, i ...

''. A song from that album, ''Today is the Day'' served as the official theme song for

's pay-per-view event

No Mercy 2003 The 2003 No Mercy was the sixth No Mercy professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown! brand division. The event took place ...

in October. By 2005, Dope had regrouped once more, the band had a new bassist, Brian "Brix" Milner (former guitarist and keyboardist for Orlando's

Skrape Skrape was an American heavy metal band formed in Orlando, Florida in 1997. History Formed in 1997 under the name "Jojo", they later renamed to "Skrape" two years later. Prior to their formation in 1997, members had been involved in notable ac ...

). For their new album entitled ''

American Apathy ''American Apathy'' is the fourth studio album by nu metal band Dope. It was released July 26, 2005, through Artemis Records. It was the last album to feature drummer Racci Shay and also the band's last to be released through Artemis Records, wh ...

'', the band returned to a harder sound similar in some respects to their debut, in an

style. Although released eight years after the band formed, four albums in and on an independent label, American Apathy performed well in the charts. It was a No. 1 hit on the

chart, for the first time in the band's history and it also saw the band's highest charting on the Billboard chart to date. Ben Graves of the

joined Dope as the live drummer on a tour of Japan. In 2006 Dope bassist Brix Milner played in Murderdolls front man

's solo band, replacing the injured Kid Kid. Edsel Dope and Virus became involved in an alternative pop/rock side-project called Makeshift Romeo.

''No Regrets'' (2008–2012)

''No Regrets'' is the band's fifth studio album. The album was released on March 10, 2009. The album debuted at No. 88 with 6,200 copies sold in its first week, making it the highest-charted album in the band's history. This CD is different from past releases in that the name of the CD is repeated in many of the songs, including "Dirty World," "My Funeral," "We Are," and the CD's title track. "Addiction" is the third single from the album. The song features a guitar solo by the guest musician

Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy meta ...

. Dope has finished their spring tour of the United States, the tour, which took place over two months, included 22 dates. Tripp Lee played live on bass with the band (although Brix is still listed, and seems doubtful that he will return) and a new drummer named Angel Bartolotta, formerly of

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

and The Genitorturers has joined. It was announced on October 15, 2008, that the first single from '' No Regrets'' is called "Violence". The song is currently available to listen on the band's MySpace. There will be a music video, for "Violence", according to the image the band set for album art. One of the tracks for the album was released in late 2007 in the game, '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock''. ''Guitar Hero III'' includes a song by Dope called "Nothing for Me Here" on the bonus list and mentions that it will be on the band's upcoming album. Some time in early 2009, Dope updated their official website, which now features promotion for ''No Regrets'', which was released on March 10, 2009. Previews of eight tracks from the new album can be heard via the music player on the site. In addition to this, the full music video for the single Addiction, which features

Black Label Society Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three vid ...

and well-known guitarist for

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

is available to be viewed on the site. One of the tracks on the new album is a cover of the

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

single, "

Rebel Yell The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers used the yell when charging to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had many other uses. No audio ...

". On July 29, 2008, Dope released ''American Apathy Reloaded''—a CD of remixes and alternate versions of songs from ''American Apathy'', plus a live DVD. Dope has released a video to go along with the second single on the album, "6-6-Sick". The song "Nothing for Me Here" is featured in the video game '' Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'' as a bonus track, therefore making the song's original release date in 2007, 2 years before No Regrets was released.

, the lead guitarist, teaches guitar/bass at the Paul Green School of Rock in

Fort Washington, Pennsylvania Fort Washington is a census-designated place and suburb of Philadelphia in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,446 at the 2010 census. History Prior to the Revolutionary War the Fort Washington area was settle ...

. Virus also produces up-and-coming bands and writes music for TV and video game companies such as Activision, Disney and ESPN. In 2011, Dope performed at the

Gathering of the Juggalos The Gathering of the Juggalos (The Gathering or GOTJ) is an annual festival put on by Psychopathic Records, featuring performances by the entire label roster as well as numerous well-known musical groups and underground artists. It was founded by ...

. On August 12, 2011, Dope played at Mojoes in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

. In 2012, Virus joined

David Draiman David Michael Draiman ( he, דוד מיכאל דריימן; born March 13, 1973) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distorted, operatic, baritone voice and percussive singing style, he is best known as the lead vocalist of the h ...

's band Device.

''Blood Money'' (2013–present)

On the September 19, 2013, the band officially released a teaser for the song "Drug Music" from their upcoming sixth studio album, entitled "Blood Money" via their Facebook page. The album was originally set to be released in March 2014. However, in an interview with Dee J. Nelson, it was said that the release will take place in the summer. The music video for the album's first single "Selfish" was released on August 26, 2014, as frontman

announced that Blood Money will be a two-part album. In 2015, Dope announced the dates for the "Die Mother Fucker Die" reunion tour, featuring the classic lineup of Edsel Dope, Virus, Acey Slade, and Racci Shay. Dope also recorded their very first live album in Moscow which featured the four long time friends and bandmates. Dope's live album, titled "Live In Moscow", was released in 2016 summer via a fan-funded process through their website where all those who pre-ordered the live album and/or contributed to the fundraiser would have their name listed in the album's liner notes and would subsequently make the website's virtual thermometer grow as fans shopped around the website. The Thermometer would display the overall progress in reaching various fundraiser goals such as the release of the live DVD and making it to United Kingdom and Europe for a tour. After the release of their first live album, the band announced that they will be releasing their long-awaited album " Blood Money, Part 1" in the autumn of 2016, also stating that the second part of "Blood Money" would not see such lengthy delays as Part 1 did. Dope released the official music video for the two-part album's title track "Blood Money" on July 16, 2016. The band released the second single on the album entitled "Hold On" on August 26, 2016, as well as the official music video. Blood Money part 1 was officially released worldwide on October 28, 2016, via eOne Entertainment. After the release of "Blood Money, Part 1," Dope went to tour Russia and the United Kingdom as the headlining act as well as having toured with the classic lineup featured in the "Die Mother Fucker Die Reunion" tour. This reunion tour had guitarist

, drummer Racci Shay, and bassist

return for the occasion. In the beginning of 2017, Dope released tour dates for Spring 2017, touring with co-headliner Combichrist and supporting acts

September Mourning September Mourning is a heavy metal music, metal band, which incorporates a transmedia dark culture project created by Emily Lazar and Marc Silvestri. The conceptual project was formed by frontwoman, vocalist, and Screaming (music), screamer Emi ...

and Davey Suicide. They also released more tour dates for Fall 2017, this time touring with

Hed PE Hed PE (also known as (hed) Planet Earth and stylized as (həd) p.e. or as (Hed)pe or (Hed)PE) or (həd) Planetary Evolution, is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1994, the band is known for its eclectic genre-cr ...

. In 2019, Dope toured with

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer, drummer Davier Pérez, bassist Jon Miller and rhythm guitarist Alex Lee. The band was ...

, and Raven Black in the US. In 2023, they are part of the Rise of the Machine tour with

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

Mushroomhead Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as ...

and

Twiztid Twiztid is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan, known for both their horror-themed lyrics and rock influenced sound. Formed in 1997, Twiztid is composed of rappers Jamie "Madrox" Spaniolo and Paul "Monoxide" Methric. Spaniolo and ...

. On July 19, 2022, the band announced "Blood Money Part Zer0", the prequel to “Blood Money, Part 1” as a free digital download for its release in 2023. The band also shared the songs "No Respect" and "Believe" on the same day. On August 22, 2022, a music video for Believe was released to YouTube. On September 7, they released a third new single from ‘Blood Money Part ZerØ’ F**k It Up. On December 7, 2022, Dope released Best Of Me EP featuring 4 songs.

Musical style, influences and lyrics

Dope have been described as

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

, and

. Dope's influences include

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, White Zombie, and

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

. Dope's lyrics are known for being

obscene An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

and aggressive. In a review of Dope's album ''

'',

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

said "In '' American Pie'', a boy puts his cock in an

apple pie An apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples. The earliest printed recipe is from England. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream ("apple pie à la mode"), or cheddar cheese. It is generally ...

, to let us know that there's something rotten at the heart of the American Dream. Ex-con brothers

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort ...

and Simon Dope, though, would probably put someone else's cock in the apple pie, cut it off, lace the pie with

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

, and serve it up at the Clinton dinner table." In terms of composition, the band mostly relies on simplicity.

describes one of his songs "Pig Society" a song that "encompasses the spirit of the band at its core development. Angry, simple, and full of middle fingers". The band's song "Die MF Die" has become Dope's most popular song, and also being used during military operations. About the song, Edsel Dope explained: "''It is a very progressive but very fun 'tongue in cheek' song. The real amazement to me is the power that song took on over the years and how many things it's done beyond way more than I ever thought it would. Apparently that song was used as kind of a battle cry for lots of soldiers as they went into the Iraq war and was used in training. There have been other rumours that they have used it when they have interrogated Iraqi POWs. It is kind of an aggressive song for people to lose their minds. It took on a whole other life that I had never ever imagined".''

Members

Current *

– lead vocals, programming (1997–present), rhythm guitar (1997–1999, 2002–present), keyboards (2002–present) *

– lead guitar, backing vocals (2000–2013, 2015–2017, 2018–present), keyboards (2002–2013, 2015–2017) *

– bass (1998–1999, 2015–2017, 2018–present), rhythm guitar (1999–2002) * Daniel Fox – drums (2004–2005, 2013–2015, 2017, 2019–present)

Former

* Sloane "Mosey" Jentry – lead guitar (1997–1998), bass (1999–2004) *

– bass (1997–1998), lead guitar (1998–2000) *

– drums (1997–2000) * Simon Dope – keyboards, programming, percussion (1997–2002) * Adrian Ost – drums (2000–2001) * Racci "Sketchy" Shay – drums (2001–2004, 2015–2017), bass (2004–2006) * Ben "Ghoul" Graves – drums (2005–2006) (died 2018) * Brix Milner – bass (2006–2007) * Angel Bartolotta – drums (2006–2013) * Derrick "Tripp" Tribbett – bass, backing vocals (2007–2013), keyboards (2017 selected shows) * Jerms Genske – bass, backing vocals (2013–2015, 2017–2018), lead guitar (2015 selected shows) * Chris Warner – drums (2017–2019, 2019 selected shows) * Nikk Dibs – lead guitar, backing vocals (2013–2015, 2017–2018), bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2017) Edsel Dope (23094660725).jpg, Edsel Dope Virus2009Wisconsin (cropped2).jpg, Virus Acey Slade (22676830557).jpg, Acey Slade

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:110 top:10 right:60 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1997 till:31/12/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1997 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1998 Colors = id:lvocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:lguitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:rguitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.93) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = layer:back color:studio at:14/09/1999 at:06/11/2001 at:21/10/2003 at:25/07/2005 at:10/03/2009 at:28/10/2016 BarData = bar:Edsel text:"Edsel Dope" bar:Sloane text:"Sloane Jentry" bar:Virus text:"Virus" bar:Nikk text:"Nikk Dibs" bar:Simon text:"Simon Dope" bar:Tripp text:"Tripp Eisen" bar:Acey text:"Acey Slade" bar:Brix text:"Brix Milner" bar:Derrick text:"Derrick Tribbett" bar:Jerms text:"Jerms Genske" bar:Preston text:"Preston Nash" bar:Adrian text:"Adrian Ost" bar:Racci text:"Racci Shay" bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Fox" bar:Ben text:"Ben Graves" bar:Angel text:"Angel Bartolotta" bar:Chris text:"Chris Warner" PlotData = width:11 bar:Edsel from:01/01/1997 till:end color:lvocals bar:Edsel from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:rguitar width:3 bar:Edsel from:01/01/2002 till:end color:rguitar width:3 bar:Edsel from:01/10/2002 till:end color:keyboards width:7 bar:Simon from:01/01/1997 till:01/10/2002 color:keyboards bar:Sloane from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2004 color:bass bar:Sloane from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 color:lguitar bar:Tripp from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2000 color:lguitar bar:Tripp from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 color:bass bar:Preston from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2000 color:drums bar:Acey from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:rguitar bar:Acey from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 color:bass bar:Acey from:12/04/2015 till:27/02/2017 color:bass bar:Acey from:28/06/2018 till:end color:bass bar:Adrian from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 color:drums bar:Racci from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2004 color:drums bar:Racci from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2006 color:bass bar:Racci from:12/04/2015 till:27/02/2017 color:drums bar:Brix from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 color:bass bar:Virus from:01/01/2000 till:06/07/2013 color:lguitar bar:Virus from:25/09/2015 till:12/11/2017 color:lguitar bar:Virus from:28/06/2018 till:end color:lguitar bar:Virus from:01/01/2000 till:06/07/2013 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Virus from:25/09/2015 till:12/11/2017 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Virus from:28/06/2018 till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Virus from:01/10/2002 till:06/07/2013 color:keyboards width:7 bar:Angel from:01/01/2006 till:06/07/2013 color:drums bar:Derrick from:01/01/2007 till:06/07/2013 color:bass bar:Derrick from:01/01/2007 till:06/07/2013 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Jerms from:06/07/2013 till:12/04/2015 color:bass bar:Jerms from:12/11/2017 till:27/06/2018 color:bass bar:Jerms from:06/07/2013 till:12/04/2015 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Jerms from:12/11/2017 till:27/06/2018 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Nikk from:06/07/2013 till:25/09/2015 color:lguitar bar:Nikk from:06/07/2013 till:25/09/2015 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Nikk from:12/11/2017 till:27/06/2018 color:lguitar bar:Nikk from:27/02/2017 till:12/11/2017 color:bass bar:Nikk from:27/02/2017 till:12/11/2017 color:keyboards width:7 bar:Nikk from:27/02/2017 till:27/06/2018 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Daniel from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 color:drums bar:Ben from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 color:drums bar:Daniel from:06/07/2013 till:12/04/2015 color:drums bar:Daniel from:27/02/2017 till:14/07/2017 color:drums bar:Daniel from:23/01/2019 till:end color:drums bar:Chris from:15/07/2017 till:23/01/2019 color:drums

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2005) * '' No Regrets'' (2009) * '' Blood Money, Part 1'' (2016) * ''Blood Money, Part Zer0'' (2023)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dope 1997 establishments in New York City American alternative metal musical groups American industrial metal musical groups American nu metal musical groups MNRK Music Group artists Flip Records (1994) artists Heavy metal musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1997 Musical quartets Musical groups from New York City