Album of the Week #85

Malice · 27-08-2012 8:44am #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2jCbXiEQI4

xerces · 27-08-2012 2:56pm

Infest was my introduction to metal. I listened to a lot of Rap/Hip-Hop throughout the '90s so when I discovered this form of Rap Metal when I was about 16, it was right up my street. It sounded so satisfactorily heavy and brimming with raw energy.

I love Jacoby's flow on 'Thrown Away'

, I can't help but mosh along to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9362u669Gkg

'Revenge' is my favourite. It effectively and energetically tells a great little story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHcDw-Hz56A

I still have my limited edition copy of Infest which came in a tin box with the cockroach symbol etched into it, although it has rusted badly. Here's the full album on YouTube if anyone's feeling nostalgic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDSSq8V7sYM

As I side note, I obsessed over Papa Roach for a couple of years. I first saw them performing 'Broken Home' on a balcony overlooking a street where the MTV music awards were being held in 2000. After buying Infest, I accumulated all their older material as best I could, like the self-produced album 'Old Friends From Young Years' and the rarity 'Potatoes For Christmas', which was difficult to do back then.

I spent a lot of time on their Message Board, and when I managed to get my hands on excerpts from their upcoming second release Lovehatetragedy, I transcribed the lyrics and released them on the net. Dave Buckner (the drummer) then confirmed that I had them correct, which was cool.

They came to Dublin upon the release of Lovehatetragedy, which was a great show, but my interest waned shortly after. I think they lost a lot of what was great about them after Infest.

Malice · 27-08-2012 3:07pm

I first came across Papa Roach while sitting in the computer room in college back in 2000 slowly downloading some MP3s via a new peer-to-peer application called Napster that had recently appeared and would take the Internet by storm. The first song I heard was Dead Cell and, while it's not my favourite song off this album, it's a solid introduction to the type of song to be found on this album.

Something that I really enjoy about this album is the bass. Unlike a lot of metal songs the bass is quite prominent on many tracks and doesn't always just blast away doing the same thing as the guitar but an octave lower.

As for the guitar, I think Jerry Horton did an excellent job on most of the songs on the album. While certain guitarists around that time seemed to use dropped tunings as a means of playing easier power chords (yes Brad Delson, I'm looking at you), Horton used them to add a bit more texture to the guitar riffs. A lot of the guitar riffs manage the twin feats of being both easy to play and catchy which in fairness something Brad Delson occasionally manages

.

I remember working one summer in San Francisco where I had the dubious pleasure of having to get a 6:30AM train. Trudging through the dark streets I used to listen to this album on my swanky new personal CD player and lines like "You're a slave to the system, working jobs that you hate for that shit you don't need." really resonated with me at the time.

It's hard for me to imagine what it's like for someone approaching this album for the first time these days. Where I find the rapping catchy and honest someone else might find it cringeworthy. Overall I highly recommend checking it out.

Xavi6 · 28-08-2012 9:02am

Wow what a throwback!

I was in Transition Year when this came out and a generous mate burned me a copy. Last Resort was the only song I knew at the time (although a free Melody Maker CD at the time gave me Infest, I just didn't realise it was them until a few months later). 15 year old me thought the album was fantastic, and I still put it on in the car every now and then. The rest of the album is a bit hit and miss for me, love Broken Home in particular though. I was big into this sort of thing at the time, and 1999/2000 spawned some imo great at albums like Hybrid Theory and Linkin Park, with Infest in the same category.

I've all the albums they've done since and I don't think any of the later material comes close to hitting the heights of Infest (though I love some tunes like Scars).

Joe_Dull · 28-08-2012 10:09am

I always liked Last Resort, but AOTW is an accolade I hold in very high esteem so I'll endeavour to get the full album and give it a proper listen! Considering I'm a fan of Korn, Linkin Park, Sum 41 and Drowning Pool (thanks to a previous AOTW) I'm sure this'll be right up my street.

Malice · 28-08-2012 8:37pm

Joe_Dull wrote: »

get the full album and give it a proper listen!

Definitely do that. Even the weakest tracks on the album are still well worth checking out. In fact, I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I regard as the weakest tracks on the album and it's very hard

. At a push I'd say Legacy and Thrown Away.

Joe_Dull · 29-08-2012 10:04pm

As expected, I found that very enjoyable! Lots of variety and chunky riffs to snack on - I particularly like Never Enough and Blood Brothers.

Long live AOTW! :pac:

Somnus · 30-08-2012 1:07pm

This album takes me back to my early teens.

The first song I heard by them was Blood Brothers on Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2. It was in the main game and some of the extras videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGRvTyRPH14

I didn't know who the band was funnily enough, just thought the song was cool. I heard Last Resort and Between Angels and Insects on Kerrang I think, but maybe a friend of mine had the album. Either way I loved it so got the album.

As most people have all ready said, it's a really solid album. Loads of great songs, and listening to it now they still hold up quite well.

Listening has been an enjoyable trip down memory lane!

Malice · 30-08-2012 1:19pm

Funnily enough Blood Brothers wasn't even on the first version of Infest that I got. I remember playing Tony Hawk's and wanting to know where the heck the song had come from. There was a clean version released where it was replaced by Legacy. I don't know why that was done. The lyrics are a bit dark but there are no swear words unlike other songs on the album which were left in.

Passenger · 01-09-2012 3:06pm

Wow! Nostalgia alert!

You know when you hear a song or a piece of music that you haven't heard in years and when you hear it you are immediately transported back to the places and faces that were part of your life when you first heard that particular song/music?? Well that's Infest. It's event eliciting smell memories from about 12 years ago.

As Malice mentioned the dynamic between the Bass and Guitars are superb. It's not something you hear a lot on Rock/Metal albums. The Bass is almost working independently to the Guitars as opposed to simply playing root notes of the Guitar chords for the entire song. He does plenty of little fills here and there. You know that when you walk away from a song humming the Bass parts that the Bass on the song was special. Good tone too. Call it what you will but it is what it is... and what it is, is a decent Rock album.

Wrongway1985 · 01-09-2012 3:11pm

As mentioned above from others I also discovered this band playing Tony Hawks 2 also and saw the video of "Last Resort" (MTV2 maybe) not long after, Liked it picked up the single which included a version of "Dead Cell" convinced me to fork out for their full release. It really is a solid album amongst the standout tracks for me was hidden track "Tightrope" not sure its on every release of the album but well worth locating if not. Another thing of note about the "Blood Brothers" track key lyrics derived from this supposedly...

Mushy · 02-09-2012 10:42am

First time I heard these, I thought the song was Teenage Dirtbag. It was just after I first saw the music channels. Turned out to be Last Resort, and heard it loads. Bought the album on the day of my confirmation, went to a friends house and ended up playing it in full. It was like the 2nd or 3rd album I ever bought. It was quality at the time.

Album of the Week #85

Comments