Album Review: Poison The Well - Peace In Place
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
It takes about forty five seconds of opening track “Wax Mask” to remind myself of the unbridled joy that comes when listening to Miami’s Poison The Well. It has taken me back to when I first heard “The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation” and how that record made me think “WTF is this?” and now armed with 10 new songs, they are firmly back in the spotlight.
This is their first release in fifteen years and with Jeff Moreira on vocals, Ryan Primack on guitars and Chris Hornbrook on drums, they form a cohesive unit and are back with an “emotionally heavy” and “pissed off” record that’s full of “raw emotions from experiences we’ve gone through”. There’s a relentless, aggressive nature to “Primal Bloom” which demonstrates they’ve lost none of their bite and increases the anticipation further.
When they released the single “Thoroughbreds” it put the music world on notice, with the calmer opening leading into a rapidly increasing drum sound, that creates an intensity alongside the pulsating guitar riff. The tempo switches beautifully, with the words “your voice kills mine” ringing in your ears. The evocative vocals and sinister sounding bass on “Everything Hurts” showcases the bands range, with a cleaner guitar sound that echoes through reverb and provides contrast and diversity.
“Weeping Tones” is probably my favourite track, as it gives your senses one hell of a bludgeoning whilst simultaneously being comforting by their mournful tones and tender vocals. As singer Moreira said, the song “is a reminder that a lot of situations will make you feel suffocated” and the riffs replicate that. “A Wake of Vultures” steps back from the full-frontal assault, albeit momentarily before exploding into life with aggression and brutality before the melancholy rhythm at the back end.
“Bad Bodies” comes along with a crazy drum pattern that really stands out as the guitars whizz around your ears. It embraces their more experimental side, from hostile metalcore to melodic post-hardcore whilst losing nothing from their past. There’s a dreamy bass line at the start of “Drifting Without End” which is an intriguing song as it sees them at their retrospective best with more melody and emotion, especially in the vocal.
“Melted” leads with a strummed guitar before they go off like a 4th July firework, but the change of tempo leads to a well-balanced and belligerent song. They end with “Plague Them The Most” which has the superb line “never again to bite my tongue in the name of mercy” as the tempo switches from confrontation to contentment. It wraps up an outstanding album and we should all welcome the return of Poison The Well.
