Taproot
Blue-Sky Research

THE REVIEW

For those who believe that nu metal still has something to say. Taproot, in my opinion an unjustly underrated band, emerged in 2000, in the midst of nu-metal chaos, with the excellent "Gift", an album strongly inspired by Deftones and slightly weighted down by the now famous outbursts from the KoRn school, hypnotic, interesting, which achieved a decent success (but not too much), thanks especially to the chameleonic voice of Stephen Richards. In 2002, "Welcome" was released, and unfortunately, they stumbled upon a resounding flop: the outbursts and psychotic rhythms disappeared to make way for grunge sounds and, obviously, an excessive use of melody, which unfortunately makes the album boring and not very engaging (except for the single "Poem"). "Blue-Sky Research", released last year, is not just the album of redemption for the band after the mediocre predecessor, but also the testimony of the finally achieved maturity of Taproot, who shed all the nu metal clichés present in "Gift" (dropped riffs, rapped verses, angry scream vocals) and that grunge melancholy (model last Staind) which was soaked into "Welcome". In fact, the new music of the quartet is something "new", something where serenity and melancholy blend perfectly in a concentrate of grunge, rock, and ancient Deftones reminiscences (with even emo nuances), stripped of the heaviness that penalized the previous record, creating light, sweet, refined atmospheres that never tire, just like a beautiful blue sky during an autumn afternoon.

And yes, because this is precisely the image that emerges while listening to the album, it is the soundtrack of an entire early autumn day lived from dawn's light to sunset, all with the presence of an ever-present blue sky (like the one on the cover). "I Will Not Fall For You", the album's opening, starts with a delicate guitar arpeggio accompanied by a calm Richards who unleashes all his anger in the chorus; it would be pointless to discuss each track since the melodies of songs like "Violent Seas", "Lost In The Woods", "April Suits", "She", "Promise" and the catchy single "Calling" are just to be listened to and relistened to. "Facepeeler", "So Eager", "Nightmare", and especially "Blue Sky Research/What's Left" might be the songs that, besides having the ever-present melody, also feature angrier moments, as if to recall the outbursts of "Gift", now light-years away. Special mention for "Birthday", which was the first song that truly struck me from this album: melody and atmosphere are nothing short of wonderful, an exciting piece with a very romantic lyric... a beautiful birthday wish.

In the making of this album, besides Taproot themselves and producer Bob Marlette, former Smashing Pumpkins member Billy Corgan also participated, who signed the tracks "Violent Seas", "Lost In The Woods", and "Promise". "Blue Sky Research" finally gives us a mature band, with its own identity, calmer than ever, far from the usual clichés of its origin genre, yet still belonging to it, despite the marked grunge inclinations shown in the past. Taproot's nu metal has evolved and finally exploded, and I am nothing but happy about this. After the anger of "Gift" and the melancholy of "Welcome", here comes the serenity of "Blue Sky Research". An album recommended for those who love to dream, for those who are in search of a blue sky.