Poison The Well - Versions
Release Date: April 3, 2007
Record Label: Ferret Records
Poison The Well has been MIA for a while. Nearly 4 years, to be precise. After releasing a string of fine metalcore albums from 1998 to 2002 (one on GoodLife, the other 2 on Trustkill), the Miami, FL, band was signed by Atlantic Records. The band released You Come Before You, which had moderate success (it has sold 130k copies to date). This past summer though, PTW parted ways with the label, citing “creative differences” as the source for the breakup. The following November, the band signed to the powerhouse independent label, Ferret Records. Finally, this April, Poison The Well unveiled Versions to the general public.
Written over the course of the past few years by core members Ryan Primack (guitar), Chris Hornbrook (drums) and Jeffrey Moreira (vocals), Versions is a departure of sorts from previous material. While they hinted at this sound on their previous album, they have fully embraced and implemented it throughout the new album. Using a variety of different instruments (such as mandolins, slide guitar, horns and banjo), Versions features a richer and more atmospheric sound than ever before. Recorded in Umeå, Sweden, and produced by Eskil Lövström and Pelle Henricsson, the twelve-track album grabs your attention immediately and ceases to let go.
“Letter Thing” begins with rapid drums and Moreira’s vicious vocals. Primack is relentless on the guitar as well. “Breathing’s For The Birds” is a sweeping track, while “Nagaina” is a riveting song played with a swooping bass line. It’s unlike anything they’ve done before. “The Notches That Create Your Headboard” hits you like a freight train, with Moreira’s vocals sounding better than ever. The following two songs, “Pleading Post” and “Slow Good Morning,” are harder to get into and bring down the overall pace of the album. True to its title, “Slow Good Morning” is paced very slow and builds up eventually to a crushing finish.
“You Will Not Be Welcomed” begins slowly with dreary keynotes and a somber guitar line. Moreira shows a different side of his voice, calmly hitting falsetto notes before unleashing a very gruff scream. “Naïve Monarch” is a domineering track that’ll satisfy the longtime fans of the band. Fast paced with a tinge of melody, it’s everything fans love about Poison The Well. But with “Riverside,” PTW takes a left turn and uses a vast array of different instruments on the song, again showing the new direction of the band.
“The First Day Of My Second Life” closes off the album in high fashion, incorporating all the elements shown throughout the album into this frantic five-minute closer. After listening to this album, some will get it right away, others will catch on to with more listens, and many will hate Versions upon the first few listens. With such a long break between the last record and this one, many fans may have grown out of this band, but with the new direction and construction of each song, Poison The Well aims to reignite the passion many had for them.
Versions is the heaviest album in Poison The Well’s history. Not in the sense of “chug-chug-scream-breakdown” heavy, but rather heavy in how each instrument hits your eardrum. Versions is best heard with headphones, as you can hear each minor detail and appreciate the complexity of each song. The orchestration was carefully thought out and is executed nicely. The album flows very well, almost too well, as some of the songs tend to run together. Yet, this doesn’t deter from the overall enjoyment of Versions.
In the end, it’ll take a few, perhaps many, listens for some to truly soak in Versions. It took me a good four or five listens before I began to enjoy it, and now I can’t stop listening to it. Poison The Well may very well have released the finest album in their career, as they have put a bullet in the head of their past sound.
maybe I'm not seeing something here. While I agree with what you say about the instrumentation, the vocals are the hard part to get through of Versions. One of the biggest things that attracts me to PTW is the scream/sing combo. I think when he sings, it is pretty amazing, and I believe that's missing here. But i'll definitely be picking this up Tuesday.
good job my fellow Hoosier....this album is definitely a different step, but I think as far as the mediocrity of today's music goes, this is a step in the right direction.
hopefully people will notice that it doesn't take a 30 second beat-em'up breakdown to make a song unique and worth listening.
I've been a PTW fan since Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, and they've never let me down....although the music always changes I think they're probably the best hardcore band to adapt to new styles in history....anyone wanna challenge that? maybe Snapcase did it better...but not many....
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