PAPA ROACH
Ego Trip NEW NOIZE
Californian veterans still finding new life beyond the nu metal battlegrounds
Papa Roach: still hitting a purple patch
DARREN CRAIG/PRESS
IN 2022, PAPA Roach really don’t need to prove anything to anyone. The Californian rockers have cemented their legacy within the alternative world over the last two decades and could quite easily rest on their laurels, but their insatiable desire to evolve with each passing release is admirable if nothing else. Eleventh album Ego Trip is no less in line with this outlook, continuing to build on the more poporientated sound the band showcased on 2019’s Who Do You Trust?
Once more – and perhaps aided this time by the band’s activity on TikTok – no song clocks in at more than three and a half minutes long. This is a presentation of 14 tracks that don’t outstay their welcome and pack in as much as they can for maximum impact. Some of the traits that have sustained Papa Roach over the years remain very much intact, such as the nu metal bounce in the guitars on opener Kill The Noise and the arena-sized choruses that propel the title track and Cut The Line to greater heights. But these are balanced by the likes of Swerve (featuring Jason Aalon Butler from Fever 333 and rapper Sueco) and Dying To Believe, which are a mix of electronics, synths and rapping that feel a million miles away from the band who gave the world Last Resort.