Taproot

It's fitting that Taproot begin their fourth full-length album, Our Long Road Home, with a song titled, "The Path Less Taken." Basically, that title offers a snapshot of the band's ethos over the past decade. Taproot never quite fit in with the nu metal scene that was happening when their major label debut, Gift, dropped in 2000. However, they weathered that trend and continued to evolve—from the tuneful hard rock stylings of Welcome (2002) to the ethereal experimentation of Blue-Sky Research (2005). At the same time, the hard rock landscape morphed from nu metal to metalcore to the whiny-emo-hybrid-nonsense that the kids like now. Regardless of what the musical world around them looked like, Taproot paved their own path, and Our Long Road Home [Velvet Hammer] stands out as the culmination of years of steadfast devotion to preserving their integrity.

That's all well and good, but more importantly, the album rocks harder than anything they've done up to this point. "The Path Less Taken" segues from coarse guitar riffs to a heavenly chorus. The guitars seamlessly crescendo from dreamy to deadly, while vocalist Stephen Richards tells a tale of perseverance. His voice remains one of Taproot's best assets. He can scream intelligibly, but he can also carry a hook. "The Hand that Holds True" blends a new wave-induced '80s chorus with a driving rock rhythm. "Take It!" shifts schizophrenically from a post-hardcore wail to a massive clean hook. The riffs roll like a fine-tuned machine, blending a grunge-y sense of melody with a knack for metallic textures. The spacey interlude, "Stethoscope," wouldn't feel out of place on an M83 or Air record, and it shows Taproot further propelling themselves into the next stratosphere. They're Michigan's foremost space rockers, and the electronic textures and prog-style rhythms are proof of that.

The two closing tracks, "Karmaway" and "Footprints," are the perfect ending for the album. The songs bear a thematic connection, and they flow like one final alt rock symphony. Both have all the trappings of epic rock n' roll, but they also highlight Taproot moving forward once more. Ultimately, if more bands followed Taproot and chose a path less taken, there'd be a lot more great music out there. Even if others don't, Taproot's road looks longer than ever.

—Rick Florino
09.16.08