Poison The Well

If there's one thing to expect from Poison the Well, it's that they're not too predictable. When The Opposite of December... A Season of Separation was released, it unexpectedly became an important album in the hardcore scene; when they released You Come Before You on a major label, it didn't have any suit and tie sway. But Versions' massive musical change was the surprise that no one saw coming. The Tropic Rot is the album that makes sense of their prior work. This album's musical alignment is more in line with Versions and You Come Before You, but The Tropic Rot doesn't dwell in any one sound. "Pamplemousse" is very subdued in terms of its tempo; it also makes good use of light guitar harmonies, tense feedback sounds and a subtle keyboard melody. Likewise, "Are You Anywhere?" plays on the contrasting dynamics of airy pleasant melodies and tense vocal screams accompanied by thundering drum work. The Tropic Rot ventures into familiar/Versions territory on "Cinema," "Antarctica Inside Me" and "Celebrate The Pyre," which make use of the band's hardcore ability to turn out heavy, fast melody-ridden music. Once again, Poison the Well have provided hardcore music -€“ and its fans -€“ with an album that is as surprising in its musical scope as it is addictive.