Madchild

When MadChild was in the depths of drug addiction, he would spend weeks on end holed up in his home. As the sun rose, he would close the blinds and chase the Oxycontin dragon with reckless abandon. Now clean, as he says "for the first time in his adult life," he has used parallel tactics in creating his first full-length solo album. After "bunkering himself" from the outside world for ten months, the 36-year-old (known primarily as one of the founders of Swollen Members) has released his own garish, dark, twisted reality, Dope Sick. There's a horror carnival-like aura permeating the album. Morose tracks with titles like "Devil's Reject," "Monster," "Mongoloid," "Freak" and "Reaper" are accentuated by the Vancouver native's high-pitched, cryptic delivery and the production reinforces this dark feel. While he may have lost nearly everything (upwards of three million dollars in assets and finances) before turning his life around, it's clear in listening to Dope Sick that his deep drive to express himself through music never fell by the wayside and is in large part what's helping him pull through.