Static-X and Dope

I’ve always had industrial metal down as one of the most unusual genres - insofar that it seems to have struggled to gain too much of a foothold within the popular metal community, let alone the wider musical one - but within its own sphere, within that niche, there are plenty of hardcore subscribers. LA outfit Static-X - who, admittedly, flew a little too close to nu metal territory for their own good during the early noughties - remain a fine example of the cult of the industrial band; they enjoyed a successful enough career to allow them to release six full-lengths and tour the world constantly. Things seemed to fall apart for them pretty quickly in the late noughties, though; after their last album, Cult of Static, performed strongly critically and commercially in 2009, frontman Wayne Static put the band on the back burner to focus on solo project Pighammer, and his bandmates moved on, effectively dissolving the band. Static did tour with solo band under the Static-X name in 2012, but the shows lacked the usual fizz and crackle of the band’s heyday, as well as the sheer heaviness of their live peak; both group and fans knew it was over, with their second split announced in June of last year.

Dope is definitely one of those bands that have stuck to their nu metal guns over the years despite that type of sound dying out probably about ten years ago. They have been going for about seventeen years and are still going now. Led by the singer Edsel Dope, they have released six studio albums across their career, and tonight they are performing in celebration of what they have achieved up until the present, with a bit of promotion towards their album that is due to come out this year, entitled “Blood Money”. The distortion and down tuned clad band, suited up in their best gothic gear, make up and everything, launch into a glam metal set, where everyone in this whole room pretty much looks the same. People are wearing the same make up, they have the same huge boots on there are audience members sporting the anomalous gas masks – odd. And nor can you tell who is male or female – more odd. It’s the songs that reached the charts that bring the house down tonight. Songs such as “Always” and “Addiction” demonstrating the new metal that never wore off this band.