Like the majority of all of the Nu Metal bands that began to spring up in the early 2000s, Papa Roach have faded into obscurity near enough now - they rode the coat-tails of the immensely successful song Last Resort, but have never really recaptured that same kind of furore. It's sad, because their debut album, Infest was actually a very good and emotive, grungey album.

Of course, adding Rap to the Metal/Rock scene is very divisive indeed, and people like Fred Durst show how it can be totally botched. Lead singer Coby Dick, though, has a far greater finger on the pulse, and these songs, whilst "emo" by some standards, are full of anger and angst, but also are heavy and fun to rock out to.

What Coby Dick gets at is the feeling of alienation that virtually every teenager has felt at some point. From familial discontent in Broken Home, where he recalls the harsh divorce of his parents, to Last Resort, where he looks at suicide and death, this isn't a fluffy and light album but it still somehow manages to be very catchy and pleasing to the ears. There's a real poetry to some of the lyrics, particularly in Last Resort, where he sings "I tried to find love upon another level, and found nothing but questions and devils." Beautiful.

What would the lyrics be without some suitable backing, though? Thankfully, the guitar work in particular is very schooled and heavy - the guitar work, particularly in Broken Home, really reinforces the angst and moody atmosphere of what Coby is singing about.

As a debut album, this is a really solid start, and whilst some might criticise it for being too much of a downer or simply too angsty, it's certainly got a target audience and is fine for that purpose. There's plenty of raw emotion in these songs, and whilst I'm far gone from that sort of teenage alienation, it was a therapeutic means of channeling my anger when I was a lot younger. It's not high art but it is well crafted for its audience.