Over repeated listenings you will note that what Dopesick does, and what makes it such a masterpiece, is nothing less than the construction of a musical environment in which ugly bursts of noise and minor-key mega-distorto riffs locate themselves within that most elusive of musical nets, the Drone. It takes several listenings to notice this, since it's hard to hear the drone over all that shouting. But it's there. When you find it, the albums will take on a kind of religious feeling. This will strike you as rather perverse, given the generally godless feel of things on Dopesick. Your instincts here will be right on the money. The whole point is summed up on an Eyehategod T-shirt that reads "Peace Through Addiction." There's nothing else quite like Dopesick; while a number of doom metal bands have copped its moves, it is an unspeakable little universe unto itself. If the band had chosen to call it quits after making this record, it would have made sense: it doesn't sound like it could be followed up on, unless driving a van off a cliff can be considered a follow-up. But that's not what Eyehategod did. What they did was to make an album called Confederacy of Ruined Lives, at which we'll be looking next week.   1 2 3 4 5 6 [home]