36 illinoisentertainer . com october 2016
I ndustrial metal underdogs , Dope , have been delivering their melodic brand of rage for nearly 20 years . The band emerged in 1997 when Ministry was already well-established , Nine Inch Nails were immensely popular , and White Zombie was hitting their stride . While there were plenty of innovative bands in the genre who were already doing their own thing , Dope quietly-yet-defiantly stood on its own .
“ I think what set us apart is that we were one of the few bands that had that really aggressive industrial edge like Coal Chamber and Ministry , but we also were able to successfully incorporate a lot of melody ,” Edsel Dope said . “ I feel we were kind of in the mix where we did it all , and to this day I still feel the same way . We ’ ve always kept the industrial influences , and the melody has always been there . But we have acoustic songs and then we have “ Die Motherfucker Die ” songs . I feel that Dope ’ s sound has always reflected multiple emotions and therefore the sound of the band is very wide because of that .”
After taking a well-deserved break a few years ago , Edsel has resumed the band and is reunited with its classic lineup for its sixth full-length album and first in seven years , Blood Money , Part 1 .
“ The first five albums were back to back , and it was non stop touring for the band ,” Edsel said . “ There was never a break . It was pedal to the metal from day one . I just reached a point where I needed to step away and take a break . I didn ’ t intend for it to take as long as it did . Quite honesty , I realized I needed to grow up a little bit , too . Doing this for a living can stunt your growth in some ways . Because all of this music that ’ s written in that span of time was an important part of my life , so for me to title these bodies of work any differently doesn ’ t make sense to me . There was so much material written in that time and with Part 2 , and whatever follows after that , at least from the songs that were written in that time frame will all fall under the Blood Money banner .”
Although Blood Money , Part 1 hasn ’ t officially been released yet , Blood Money , Part 2 is already in progress , according to Edsel . “ It ’ s definitely in the works ,” he said . “ If I was writing a bunch of new songs tomorrow , I would consider it under a different title ,” he said . “ But there were so many songs written for Blood Money . Whether or not the majority of those get finished or not , you just never know . But I think we ’ re easily talking about a two-part album , or maybe a third , depending on how many tracks end up on each album .”
With the current musical business model these days , a lot of bands have been entertaining the notion of abandoning the standard cycle of recording full albums , as Edsel is also considering this option . “ I ’ m flirting with the model of trying to abandon the fulllength album process in order to be more active ,” he said . “ It ’ s a longer cycle and I feel like our society is built on more instant gratification these days . I think a better model for the future would be a six-song EP and a music video and a tour every year . So that every year you have something to promote and for people to look forward to . It just seems like a far more refined model than the dinosaur model we continue to follow .”
Originally based in New York , Edsel took up residency in the Windy City for 13 years until recently relocating to California . However , he considers Chicago to be his second home . Edsel has never graced the stage at the Concord Music Hall , but he ’ s super psyched to be taking his Die MFer Die 15th reunion tour here . “ It ’ s actually a really cool room , it ’ s a big room ,” he said . “ I was a little intimidated by it because the last time we played Chicago we packed the Double Door , that ' s quite smaller . I would tell fans to expect the best of Dope , we ’ re going to bring it hard . I think the Concord will be a great show and it ’ ll be great to reconnect with our Chicago crowd .” Appearing 10 / 4 Concord Music Hall , Chicago with Flaw , ADD , Imperial Fall and Motorgate .