Taproot hit with enough force to leave a scorched crater between the listeners ears on this, their major label debut. Emotion recklessly nails itself into frustration and anger leaving wounds that drip with genuine spirituality on this blockbuster album by a band once heralded as the kings of the underground scene. Exotically textured riffs skewer the music while courageous yet tormented vocals lead the group through a rollercoaster of the human psyche all the while exuding the essence of larger than life basslines and throbbing drums beats spiced with a dash of electronic programming. Comparison wise Taproot don't necessarily bring anyone closely to mind, sure there's a few shades of the Deftones and Spineshank, but it's also smeared in with streaks of Depeche Mode and Far on a progressive nu metal canvas. Vocally Steve has kicked it up a notch, raw and bewildered with jagged rage and exhausting with overwhelming emotion he paces his way through the album seamlessly shifting gears between 1st and 5th before the listener even has a chance to notice. Beautiful and passionate his words glide out over the delicate verses and abruptly careen off course dragging the band along on a spiraling adrenaline laced freefall. A gifted vocalist indeed Steve's softspoken honesty is captivating and terrifying all at once and as such puts him amongst the top of the frontmen in the up and coming loud music crop. Guitars are entrancing with lurid tones and effect coated melodies that unleash themselves with a uniquely experimental nature and although the gracefully luxuriant harmonies provide an ample safety net for the more placid moments, they can just as easily be shed as the riffs elevate themselves with combustible surges of distortion and enraged lashings. Bass is round and warm with a friendly tuning and drawn out riffs that wrap their rumbling notes firmly around the percussion and fortify the base of the bands musical foundations. Groove driven and not afraid to experiment bassist Philly gives a solid performance that doesn't necessarily redefine the role of the bass guitar, but does definitely do its part to show the necessity of it. Drums kick out snare fueled assaults and consistently placed hits that focus on variation with what is provided rather than add unneeded kit components. A slightly numb snare tuning and a mildly downtuned set of toms are what is packed in drummer J-rod's arsenal, and they are used wisely in turn resulting in an enjoyable percussive journey overall. The one thing that is noticeable right off the start from this album is how intoxicatingly heavy and naked it is, the melody and angst fuse into a water tight seal and shift back and forth effortlessly packing multitudes of twisting corners and unexpected changes. The groups ability to drastically change the tempo and mood of the music all the while making it feel natural is another quality that excels this band rapidly past countless others. Still though, there might not be enough "new" material here to keep older fans of the band satisfied for long as the album does feature a lot of the songs from their previous albums re-worked and re-recorded, but in contrast, while most groups soften and shoot for a more commercially sensible sound to sell more records and ensure stability with their first release, this band has continued on with their own self chosen destiny as if the pressures of being the first release on a fledging major label imprint didn't even exist. Expectations for this album are high and Taproot does not disappoint with this superb piece of musical expression, they've kept it real and then some and the music contained on this release shows that it will only get better from here on in. In an era where bands sacrifice their soul for radio play and mainstream success, an album drips with ferocious integrity such as this is truly a "Gift".
(5 / 5)