It was a rare live moment that solidified Taproot’s commitment to its fans. In a show last Wednesday at the Rave, the visceral quartet brought their seething music directly to the fans, literally.

Taproot, an Ann Arbor, Michigan based act, was midway through its heart pounding set to promote its upcoming album, Welcome, when vocalist Stephen Richards exited the stage, only to reappear on the floor amongst the fans. Shaking hands as he crossed the packed floor, the singer seemed to catch just about everyone off guard. It would not be the last time he would visit the fans, though, and the next time they would be prepared.

Midway through the brutal track “Mentobe,” from Taproot’s major label debut Gift, Richards re-emerged to join the mosh pit that looked like a fluid collision of condensed energy. The pit was not so kind to the somewhat burly singer. The fans, mostly disenchanted, angry outcasts, surged to circle around the frontman and fought with reckless abandon to join in the rare occurrence.

This is not the kind of thing that you would see Gavin Rossdale do.

If the Milwaukee performance was any indication, Taproot proved itself to be one of the most “physical” rock bands in the business. It’s a wonder the members stay healthy enough to perform the next night in a town fifteen hours away. Richards, along with guitarist Mike DeWolf, bassist Phil Lipscomb and drummer Jarrod Montague, was in town to promote Welcome, the highly anticipated follow up to 2000’s Gift.

Welcome is Taproot’s chance to continue its ascent to the top of the progressive metal genre. A tour favorite, the band has performed on Ozzfest and opened shows for Linkin Park and the Deftones. While Gift was a collection of tracks that had been accrued since the band formed in 1997, Welcome is Taproot’s first album that came together in a standardized amount of time.

The day following the magnificent Milwaukee performance, the Badger Herald caught up with Taproot drummer Jarrod Montague to talk about the new record and the inner workings of one of metal’s most promising acts.

Badger Herald: Tell me about the new record Welcome — where was the band trying to go with this record?

Jarrod Montague: We definitely had a lot more time to work on this one. Everyone’s going to see a lot of growth. The first album was a collection of songs from three or four years. People say it’s always easier to write your first album since you’ve been a band for three or four years.

Only two songs were written specifically for Gift. It’s a whole new vibe now. We wanted to try something a little bit different.

We had 30 songs written when we went into pre-production with Toby Wright in November. He came in there and picked us all apart and really kicked us in the ass and made us be more creative and try to break some new ground. For a few songs on this album, we’d all just come in with different parts and jam off that. It was more of a full band, collaborative effort this time around.

No matter how hard we tried, it still sounds like Taproot. People will see that we’ve grown as a band and that the songs make a little more sense. We tried to not do what you’d expect.

BH: Was it more difficult to write in a smaller amount of time?

JM: Yeah, definitely. Toby really challenged us to try and use our strengths and make them into cool songs. The challenge was definitely on, but we definitely figured out how to write songs, and I think we’re all looking forward to writing the next album because of that.

BH: Is your intense interaction with your fans a part of the idea behind Welcome?

JM: Absolutely. Since day one we’ve always appreciated our fans. We love talking to people and hearing about new bands from people. Some of these kids are so on top of what’s going on in music. We’ve always had a lot of fun getting to know people and sharing the music together.

Welcome is kind of like, now that we’ve been out there for a couple years, welcome to what we’ve all done together and we’re all going to share it together.

BH: Any favorites on the new album?

JM: Yeah, a song we played last night called “Myself” is a really heavy, fun song. Steve really screams his ass off on that. There’s another track called “Art” that’s made two grown men cry that we’ve seen, so it’s kind of the other extreme, but it’s such an amazing song we decided to put it on the record. David Campbell [Beck’s dad] brought a thirteen-piece string group in to help us out.

BH: Taproot’s live shows are brutal. How do you stay healthy?

JM: It’s tough, I sometimes question that myself. Especially Stephen, his knees are all screwed up. He goes into the crowd and he says that kids don’t go easy on him just because he’s the singer. They want to nail him when he’s out there. He’s pretty famous for jumping off balconies.

Phil and I try to stretch, but after the show we’re all exhausted. We just need some time to cool off and have some water. We come from the Metallica background. When you bought tickets to see them, all you could think about was the show and how you couldn’t wait. We’re not at the same level they are but we want to perform for our fans like we’ve been preparing two or three months for that show.

BH: Any last message?

JM: No matter what preconceived notions about what you think we’d do next, keep an open ear. We think you’ll find that it’s a really good, really deep record. I’m sure that our people will support it no matter what, so I’d like to thank them and tell them to keep an open ear.

The eyes and ears of the music public will be on Taproot come October 15, when Welcome is unleashed upon the public. A band that goes all out for its fans, Taproot has proven itself to be a band that will not settle for what it has been dealt. Stephen Richards, Mike DeWolf, Phil Lipscomb and Jarrod Montague want more, and they welcome you to come along for the ride.