Taproot Gift (2000) Genre: Nu Metal, Rap Metal, Alternative Metal

Taproot

Gift (2000)

Genre:  Nu Metal, Rap Metal, Alternative Metal

Taproot is a band that I discovered at a friend’s house, he had travel to the US in the early 2000’s and he brought a ton of albums with him. This album was one of them (I also discovered (Hed) Pe in this little batch), it took me awhile for me to warm up to this production, but it’s a rewarding experience these guys play Metal unlike any other band, they try lots of weird stuff in there heaviness.

                       

Vocals and Lyrics: Stephan Richards is still leaning his craft his lyrics and singing is sinky at moments. But one thing that is relevant, that even though  sings about how messed up his life is, and that he has low self esteem like every band in the late 90’s, he does try something very different mixing some positive stuff in the mix, like sing about smiling very angerly, it’s a weird contrast that works.   6.5

Instrumentation:                    

Guitar: Mike Dewolf, has a particular style that make him stand out in the Nu Metal pack. The way he plays and sounds are very much his own, it will be interesting to see how this guy progresses in further albums

Bass: Phil Lipscomb is a pretty interesting bass player; he also has his own atypical bass playing style for this genre.

Drums: Jarrod Montague does a good job.   6.8

Melody and/or Structure: This album has tons of heavy riffs and crazy twist and turns it really interesting. 8

Sound, Production and Feeling: It sound O.K but those cheesy drum machines suck like hell. 7

Songs: The album is super solid, each track is good. 12

The Bad: Stephan is a terrible rapper. -1

                                                                                                                         

Originality: This band differentiates itself from other Nu Metal bands thanks to their musicianship, but they are still trying to define their style.   7