Fear can sometimes be the best fuel. It pushes us into the unknown, makes us aware, and reminds us we're alive. Embracing that mindset, Papa Roach transformed the word itself into a mantra for the title of their eighth full-length album, F.E.A.R. [Eleven Seven Music]. The Grammy Award-nominated, multi-platinum hard rock juggernaut builds its most infectious, invigorating, and incendiary body of work to date. They preserve the robust riffs and swaggering rhythms that marked their initial call-to-arms, while seamlessly infusing cinematic electronic flourishes, sweeping hooks, and magnetic melodies. As a result, the band—Jacoby Shaddix [vocals], Jerry Horton [guitars], Tobin Esperance [bass], and Tony Palermo [drums]—rise like never before…

After supporting 2012's The Connection for nearly two years, the quartet collectively decided on a change of scenery for album number eight. Rather than record at their hometown studio in Sacramento, they hit the road for Las Vegas in early 2014. Holing up in The Hideout, they worked with father-and-son super-producers Kevin and Kane Churko [Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment]. For the first time since The Paramour Sessions in 2006, the boys lived under the same roof, and they also began recording with a clean slate.

“Usually when we begin working, we’ll have a bunch of demos, and I’ll have a bag of lyrics ready to go,” Jacoby says. “We didn’t have those things this time. When we were touring The Connection, I was really focused on keeping my life together. Every time I would go on the road, I’d start clean and come home a mess. I let the road tear me apart. This time, I focused on keeping my relationships strong, my sober self healthy, and my spiritual life healthy. I didn’t have time to write, to be honest.”

“We walked into the studio with nothing,” adds Jerry. “It was frightening since it was so different, but it was also liberating. Once the ball started rolling, it was a snowball effect.”

"We wanted to do things a little bit differently," explains Tobin. "During the last record, the four of us had reconnected and gotten closer. We were in such a good place, so we all helped each other out on this one. There was no pressure. There were no expectations. We chose to work with somebody we'd never worked with before, go to a place we'd never lived previously, not worry, write songs from scratch, and have fun. We didn't overthink it. It was simple, and it fucking worked."

The Churkos continued to push the band out of its comfort zone, encouraging them to tread new territory, while maintaining their distinct identity. Five songs came from each respective producer. "Kevin and Kane were very involved," recalls Jerry. "They’ve got their tested methods and stamp. At the same time, they captured who we are. When it's heavy, it's really heavy. When it's dynamic, it's very diverse. They brought something fresh to the table."

"They have such a vast knowledge of the songwriting process," states Tony. "As a result, there is so much depth to the songs as well as the production. They're both really in tune with what kinds of musical movements and landscapes needed to accomplish a particular idea."

That energy courses through the album's ten tracks. The first single and title cut explodes into an arena-ready refrain that’s as anthemic as it is atomic. Muscular guitars give way to an industrial stomp before sparking an uplifting and undeniable chant. "Face Everything And Rise" ignites this ride.

As far as the title goes, the writing was on the wall—literally.  "Jacoby wrote F.E.A.R. on the wall of the studio in spray paint," laughs Tobin. "When we started the record, he was like, 'I want construction paper hung up on the walls everywhere so I can write down all of these thoughts.' That was the only thing he ended up writing on the wall. It stuck."

“Fear is something I face every day,” the singer admits. “It’s about taking a negative and turning it into a positive. When you see the word, it looks like Fear. If you look deeper, it’s Face Everything And Rise.”   “It felt like such a great concept to write an album around,” says Jerry. “It’s about facing your fears and knowing that no matter what happens, you’ll be alright.”

“Our lyrical content is as strong as it has ever been,” adds Tony. “With this record we want people to realize that their internal strengths can help them reach personal aspirations."

Elsewhere on the record, Papa Roach add old school flavor to the decidedly new school "Gravity" featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment. Jacoby spits a confessional and vivid verse in between hauntingly hypnotic vocals from the metal siren.  “I lay it all out there,” sighs Jacoby. “I talked to my wife about the song, and I told her I was going to talk about the darkness of our marriage in a deep sense. This was a tool of strength to show how we made it through those trials and tribulations and how we’ve both grown into stronger, better people that still know how to love each other. She loves the song.”

Meanwhile, "Broken As Me" slams with a succinct groove, which Tobin eloquently describes best as a "straight-up fucking basher".   Then, there's "Falling Apart". "I love the lyrics on it," the bassist adds. "It's about trying to find something to hold on to that can keep you strong, propel you forward, and be that light in your life. There's a lot of evil shit that can take over, but you don't have to fall prey to it."  Everything culminates on “Warriors”, which pairs Papa Roach with hip-hop luminary, one-half of Eminem’s Bad Meets Evil, and Slaughterhouse member Royce da 5’9”. It’s unlike anything in the group’s repertoire

Speaking of their catalog, 2015 also marks an important milestone for Papa Roach. It’s the 15^th anniversary of their triple-platinum debut, Infest, which solidified them as hard rock leaders. Since then, they’ve paved the way for countless other acts to find success at both radio and on stage.

Tobin smiles, “I’m really proud of that record. All of the songs were different as far as the styles and the vibes. The guitars were heavy and simple, but there was a dirty hip-hop vibe. There’s a raw edge that we captured. I think that street vibe is badass.”

“INFEST is straight fire one-hundred percent,” declares Jacoby. “That’s when I realized the purpose of my life playing music. Infest was the opening statement. It’s the intro of who we were to become. It was just the top of the iceberg. That record is just as brutally honest and real as anything I’ve written to this day.”

Ultimately though, F.E.A.R. signifies a new dawn for Papa Roach. Jacoby leaves off, “I hope people walk away believing they can do anything.”

The darkest moments in history—those when fear and hate trump all else—are the times that define us. As politicians use bigoted rhetoric to gain power at home and abroad, and fringe groups creep from the shadows, it's tempting to succumb to despair and defeatism. But Rise Against is challenging fans to create a bold new identity together: one that is stronger than these setbacks, and bigger than any election. WOLVES, their 8th studio release, is about recognizing the power within all of us; it's a primal call for the prey to become the hunters. 

"If you are in the wilderness and you hear wolves howling, what you're hearing might be an animal lost or mourning," says Rise Against's Tim McIlrath. "But it doesn't make you any less afraid. You know they're there. And you know what this powerful pack of animals is capable of."

For 18 years, Rise Against has kept its moral compass steady, using their international punk platform to speak out for social justice. 

The band cut its teeth during the George W. Bush administration and has released records across three presidencies, but today's political climate forced the band to step back and rethink how they define themselves.  

The record was originally titled "Mourning in America," but after the U.S. presidential election that rang hollow. It felt somber and hopeless. Members of the band felt those emotions, too, but decided they needed to create an album that focused more on our potential than our failings. They knew it needed teeth and claws. The result is WOLVES, a soundtrack for the hunt. 

"In many ways, a Rise Against show is a safe space for our fans," McIlrath says. "But I realized that I don't only want to create safe spaces, I want to create dangerous spaces where misogyny can't exist, where xenophobia can't exist. I want to create spaces where those sentiments don't have any air, and they suffocate: where those ideas die. WOLVES isn't about creating a safe space, it's about creating a space that's dangerous for injustice."

The influence of the U.S. presidential election can clearly be heard in songs like "Walls" ("the monsters lost in history are now making their return") and "Welcome to the Breakdown" ("ignoring the facts, intoxicated by the throne"). WOLVES is of course shaped by the new presidency, but it's not limited to it. There is a spirt of resistance and optimism here that transcends our current crisis, and will outlast any politician. 

Like all Rise Against records, the band tackles political struggles alongside personal ones, creating songs as complex as their fans. On tracks like "House on Fire" and "Politics of Love," one can hear echoes of the iconic punk/folk songwriter Billy Bragg in McIlrath's words; the personal is political, the political is personal, and it's all rooted in a revolutionary, uncompromising love. 

This evolution in Rise Against's identity came against the backdrop of other changes for the band. For 11 years, they had worked closely with producer Bill Stevenson, of the Descendents and Black Flag fame. With Descendents on tour and Stevenson tied up, Rise Against stepped out of their comfort zone and began working with Nick Raskulinecz, the Grammy-winning producer who has partnered with Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains, and Deftones. 

Recording with Raskulinecz meant moving to Nashville, Tennessee—far from the band's familiar worlds of Chicago and Los Angeles, and a firmly red state where Rise Against has rarely played. Political yard signs and conversations around town were constant reminders to the band that they were in new territory. And even though Nashville is a music town, it's country—not punk or hardcore. During the band's five months in the area, these outsider feelings shaped the identity of WOLVES. 

Living in the South transformed the record in some unexpected ways. "As people on the news are arguing about immigration and class warfare, we are driving down the highway and seeing Civil War battlefields and monuments," McIlrath says. "When you tour these battlefields, you hear about what kind of muskets they used. But shouldn't we be talking about what got us to that point as a country?"

As further evidence of the geographic influence on the record, it's comprised not just of anthems of resistance, but also reconciliation. Living in Nashville drove home that we can't just focus on our differences, McIlrath says. If we can stop and talk to each other, face to face, we might realize our common ground. We are all wolves in the same pack, circling at the gates. 

"They say we're divided, we are conquered," McIlrath sings. "But our enemies have never been each other."

— Will Potter