Over their twenty year career, Papa Roach have released some great albums that were snappy rock records that showed that the band was more than a passing fad, and that they had the chops to last beyond the nu-metal phase of the early 2000’s. The band also knew how to play well and create lasting albums that could be listened to long after their release. On their latest record F.E.A.R, which stands for Face Everything and Rise, the qualities that made their previous albums great have for the most part disappeared. While the band formed in Vacaville, California in 1993, they did not have a major hit until 2000, when they released their major label debut Infest and released the album’s most famous single “Last Resort.” They would go on to release seven records including, Lovehatetragedy (2002), Getting Away With Murder (2004), and The Paramour Sessions in 2006.
F.E.A.R opens with “Face Everything and Rise” a grinding track that features electronic elements, something that the band toyed with on their last album The Connection (2012.) While this aspect provides a new element to the band’s music, it doesn’t save the records dull feeling on F.E.A.R. While fans have long known that Papa Roach entered the studio to record this new record with nothing written beforehand, this lack of preparation makes the album feel weaker than it could have been, even if the band had only written a few songs. By writing the tunes as they went along, the album feels rushed and blurred together, and while the band still have the explosive rock and roll energy that made fans fall in love with the music during the Infest era, it feels like F.E.A.R is making Papa Roach seem like they are past their prime.
F.E.A.R continues with “Falling Apart” a blazing track that tries to bring together the lively guitar riffs that guitarist Jerry Horton has always been great at writing. A huge strength for Papa Roach was that they always wrote guitar riffs that made each song stand out from each other, but on “Falling Apart”, each riff doesn’t feel as powerful or as rollicking as they did on previous records, making the album feel like its tearing at the seams. “War Over Me” introduces the electronic aspect again in the intro to the song, along with bassist Tobin Esperance driving the song at full speed with a chugging bass line. Everyone in the band including vocalist Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Tony Palermo, all come together on this tune and become the cohesive unit that fans know they are capable of being, and why it took so long to demonstrate this on F.E.A.R remains a mystery.
The album closes with “Fear Hate Love”, another song that brings the band together as they tear up the track from beginning and end. Featuring backing vocals from the rest of the group, the song remains a powerful force from the second it starts until it ends. While Papa Roach still have the capacity to write catchy tracks, on F.E.A.R they have failed to illustrate this until the very end. While the band does eventually find its footing, for many new listeners it may be too late, as they may lose interest and not want to listen to the bands older material. Though if you’ve been a fan since Papa Roach broke through with Infest, you will mostly likely be here until the very end, as the bands musical abilities still shine through, and the remnants of their past efforts still manage to come to the surface.
