Papa Roach devolves in Metamorphosis

The album is an inappropriately titled step back.

By Ben Kupiszewski

Published April 23, 2009

At this point in alt-metal band Papa Roach's career, it should be expected that calling an album Metamorphosis -- their fifth studio album, no less -- would bring about some kind of maturation.

But that would be too easy. Instead, the Sacramento rock quartet's latest is just inappropriately titled, and the result just doesn't live up to its name.

The rough guitar riffs, coarse vocals of frontman Jacoby Shaddix and angst-filled lyrics that make up Metamorphosis are hardly signs of a solid transformation from angry juvenility to musical adulthood the band claims to have undergone. This album does not resemble the beautiful butterfly emerging from the chrysalis metaphor people think of when they think of "metamorphosis." This is evident during the album's second track "Change or Die" as Shaddix virtually screeches the first lines of the verse, "This is a battle call to one to all/The opposition/Who will take the fall?/Are you sick of just getting by?/Are you tired of the fucking crying? Are you looking for a better life?"

Shaddix's gusto is overbearing, botching the anthem, a type of song he usually pulls off well by singing with enough bravado to pump a fist but not too much to cringe. Despite this difficult change of style from Roach's more polished preceding efforts, The Paramour Sessions and Getting Away With Murder, this rougher and harder sound does not completely ruin the album and sometimes works quite nicely.

"I Almost Told You That I Loved You" is the token lyrically-disgusting-filthy-sexual track, and moreover, earns a spot nestled between Nickelback's "Animals" and Buckcherry's "Crazy Bitch" on a soundtrack if there ever is a rock-opera porno.

Here, Shaddix provides enough vocal firepower and edginess to be the man caught up in the lust of the purely physical relationship the song describes. The hard guitar chords embody the chorus.

But Metamorphosis is not devoid of mainstream, radio-ready material. The album's current two singles, "Hollywood Whore" and "Lifeline" have catchy, pop tune choruses to ensure the album is a radio and commercial success. These tracks are easily interchangeable and could be from previous two albums. Still, this doesn't balance out the edginess of the other tracks and seem out of place when compared with the rest of the album.

Softer songs comprise the second half, and while none of them are liabilities, they are not particularly memorable and start to run together. One highlight is the chorus of "Nights of Love" which can be described as vaguely Bon Jovi-esque.

Although decent, the album sounds bare with all its hard guitars and rough vocals. There are no attempts at versatility. It wouldn't hurt to hear a piano intertwined on some tracks such as "Carry Me." It is the lack of versatility that is the album's greatest problem.

Metamorphosis is more like a sound devolution than a musical transformation, hence the poorly chosen title. This fifth album is the musical equivalent to a midlife crisis, trying a new sound for the veteran group. Ultimately, such a sound is reminiscent of an effort from a young band, trying to find itself.

The quartet should be well beyond this stage in their career. Metamorphosis puts them in jeopardy of just being one of the many alt-metal acts struggling to rise out of the pack.