Papa Roach, “Ego Trip.”

It’s fair to expect the unexpected when it comes a new release from Northern California rockers Papa Roach. While first rising to prominence through rap-rock and anthemic classic “Last Resort,” the band spent the next two decades mixing things up, bending and updating its sound as hard rock evolved. On 2019’s Who Do You Trust?, Papa Roach stretched the boundary further with alt-rock, pop and electronica. For Ego Trip, the rulebook was thrown out the window entirely.

Sure, there’s plenty of the crunchy guitar riffs and anthemic choruses fans have come to expect, but the record delves deeper into melody, experimentation and genre-free exploration more than ever. It’s a less cohesive record but it’s more varied and surprising. You never know what’s coming next.

Opening track “Kill The Noise” is pure Papa Roach, with huge guitars, a driving rhythm section and swelling chorus. That’s all tied together by vocalist Jacoby Shaddix’s effusive energy. It’s one of the heavier tracks by Papa Roach since 2015’s F.E.A.R. album. Shaddix brings back the rap flow on uplifting rocker “Stand Up,” which covers a lot of musical territory.

Bassist Tobin Esperance drives the foundation of the song’s rhythmic energy through his fuzz-tone bass, keeping up with Shaddix’s rhymes. The train rolls further off the rails on poppy rap-rocker “Swerve.” Papa Roach recruits Fever 333 and deep-voiced rapper Sueco, and mixes big beats, acoustic guitars and horns for good measure. For a genre that can get self-serious, it’s a nice change of pace to hear a band that’s obviously having fun creating its sound.

From there, things get even less predictable on the industrial-meets-alt-rock track “Bloodline.” The bass-heavy song opens with a trippy, EQ’d rap verse by Shaddix before exploding into a jumpy reverb-heavy chorus that sounds like what would happen if David Bowie played nu-metal.

“We can’t go outside, the house is on fire and everybody’s trying to protect their bloodline,” Shaddix sings.

Hard rocker “Liar” reels things back in a bit, but string loops add an extra ingredient. Shaddix’s delivery, both rapped and sung, sounds as fresh as ever, and this track will certainly make its way into the band’s rousing live performances.

“They say never get high on your own supply,” Shaddix sings on the frantic title track. It includes a couple rap verses—some in Spanish. It’s actually nice to hear Shaddix back to infusing rap into the band’s sound. After finding so much success fusing the genres on Last Resort, he moved away from it to avoid being pigeonholed. Meanwhile, “Unglued” keeps it simple, honing in on anthemic melodies over a heavy rock sound.

The album’s strongest material comes in its final stretch with “Dying to Believe.” This song crosses aggressive and urgent verses with a soaring and melodic mid-tempo chorus. Ten there’s surprising acoustic ballad “Leave a Light On.” While Papa Roach has written ballads before, there’s beauty in the simplicity of a vocal, guitar and some light strings. Shaddix’s delivery is excellent and the track never does more than it needs to. This was a space that the band had room to further explore, and the results don’t disappoint.

“Always Wandering” mixes pop and electronica on the verses with a melodic chorus that feels ever so slightly pop-punk. The album concludes with a trio of straightforward fist-pumping hard-rockers in “No Apologies,” “Cut The Line” and “I Surrender.”

Papa Roach’s 11th album requires more than one listen. Some of the exploratory twists and turns require acclimation. But the resulting record is satisfying and has more than enough to satiate fans old and new. The band excels at constructing anthemic and memorable songs. After all these years, Papa Roach is still a band that sounds hungry to prove it’s more than a one-trick pony.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.