Ridding The Desk of Cockroaches.
Before I give up on this new fangled GMT lark and run off and find sleep, I must write up the next album on the pile. Not least, so I don't have that cockroach from the front of Papa Roach's 2000 Infest album staring at me whenever I check my email.
Bit of an odd one for me this one, as I'm not usually a big fan of rap. Generally by itself, I tend to find it a bit boring, however when you use it alongside other vocals it somehow works much better and adds character to the music. Following Faith No More's Epic mould Papa Roach use both to great effect backed up with a strong heavy metal grungy guitar based sound.
They're not exactly original and have very little new to add to the genre, but what they do, they do well and what they do is punchy angst-ridden alt metal.
Highlights of the album Last Resort, which does a wonderful job of toning down the guitars to let the rap take the centre stage during the verses, with the full sound kicking back in for the sung choruses, Broken Home, which lets the vocals focus mainly on song with only a little rap for effect, and Snakes which does the opposite (including record scratching during the rap). However, the sound really comes together on Between Angels and Insects, which takes their sound and rams it right down your throat.
The whole album is available to listen to on last.fm, but have a link to Between Angels and Insects.
Having had a run of metal in the pile, the next one is something completely different...