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Poison the Well

You Come Before You (2003)
Warner Music Group

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Contributed by: pwfanatic
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on July 5th 2003

When I heard that Atlantic Records had picked up Poison the Well, I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I have always been a big fan of both the “Opposite of December” and “Tear From the Red”, and how any label could make these grindcore/screamo boys into something marketable was beyond me. Even after reading that the heavyweights who produced Refused’s masterpiece “The Shape of Punk to Come”, I still did not see how their major label debut could carry the old PTW sound, and so with that in mind, I prepared myself to be disappointed by “You Come Before You.”

Going in with that mentality was almost the best thing I ever did, because when I first heard the album, I pissed and shit my pants at the same time. “You Come Before You” is a finely tuned and crafted piece of emo-rock/hardcore/screamo/grindcore/whatever you want to call it – art. PTW has put forth a fantastic album, better than any of the same genre that I have heard in a while.

The album opens with “Ghostchant”, which is a fantastic song in itself, but it isn’t until the next song that the true beauty of the album shines through. “Loved Ones” opens with a raw bass line that would seem trademarked by your more standard pure hardcore bands, and the song continues in this fashion (minus the lyrics of course). Then suddenly, everything halts, the bars on the equalizers drop, and the song shifts from the “being beat to death by bricks” mentality to “falling asleep on the couch listening to Simon & Garfunkel.” And just as quick as that happens, PTW flawlessly beings to beat you to death with bricks again. Then just as flawlessly, they go soft again. I have always felt that this was a strong point of PTW, but they have somehow managed to accomplish these transitions even better than they had done in “Opposite of December” and “TFFR.”

After a brief little filler (which pops up a few times on the album), PTW opens heavy again, and continues heavy throughout “For a Bandaged Iris.” Fans of the heavier side PTW should love this song, as the guitars grind along, the drums pound along, and the vocals chug along, all until the chorus comes in, and then its back to the “TFFR” PTW with harmony and melody galore. Throw in an excellent climax, and this song is a winner.

“Meeting Again For the First Time” is just the song that shows that PTW can be marketable. It’s lovely and soft for a bit, enough to the point where my friend actually inquired as to who the band was. It has the extreme quietness, and then gets about as heavy as any song in “TFFR” gets. It flashes between radio-friendly intelligible vocals and standard screaming.

Some songs even ditch the standard PTW format, like “Sounds Like the End of the World” which has hauntingly melodic guitars, with some harmonious vocals underneath some screaming. However, this song in particular drags on and on, and is a little bit to slow and weird to maintain my interest.

Most songs follow this format throughout the song. Soft to hard to soft, or hard to soft to hard. A few songs like “The View From Here is….a Brick Wall” or “Zombies Are Good For Your Health” break the mold when they barely take time to actually slow down at all, and border on just pure hardcore.

This album is essentially a must own for any Poison the Well fan, or any fan of the genre. It is refreshingly new, yet at the same time still familiar ground for the band. Fans of both “Opposite of December” and “Tear From the Red” should be able to swallow the album whole and still demand for more. The production is solid, and not only shows through in the little bits of filler, that pop up a lot i.e. “Sounds Like the End of the World”. In the end, “You Come Before You” is an excellent album, and is looking to be a shoo in for my top 10 this year.

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jimmyjjackamoose (June 11, 2007)

from what i've heard these guys have no melody or speed whatsoever.

contrast87 (March 18, 2007)

crazy cd

benz (April 12, 2006)

but this is definetly NOT grindcore.

benz (April 12, 2006)

best poison the well album.

Anonymous (December 7, 2005)

sorry pal no grindcore to be found here.

miff (November 4, 2005)

someone said this band was emo fool
if an emo listend to this theydprobably just cry n then burn

cky_blacknessinlight (November 2, 2005)

Great album bought it the first day it was out. Put on a good show to

brother-cheap (August 11, 2005)

best album ever i listen to it all the time

BITNI (May 22, 2005)

This Album kicks ass and falls under i would say a Hardcore/Post Hardcore genre. That is only this Album. The oppisite of the december is def grindcore and it is sick. Nerdy has to be the best song on there.

crazytoledo (May 20, 2005)

Metal >>> Hardcore you dumbass!!!

And you know it you talentless hardcore poseur...

Anonymous (April 30, 2005)

Poison the Well is hardcore. Not metal. Because metal is stupid and I hate it. Yeah that's right, all you metal heads out there can kiss it because Poison the Well is hardcore and you just don't want to admit it because they are amazing.

Anonymous (April 30, 2005)

grindcore, screamo, emocore, hibbity blah hah dahhhhh. I honestly could not tell you what any of that means and i really dont know what genre PTW is, All i can say is that they're a fucking amazing band that delivers Awesome music everytime, so instead of trying to categorize this sound, how about just listining to it and enjoying it. The combanation of differnet genres is what makes this band sick.

"You come before you" is awesome and i really enjoyed it, have fun kids its a rush.

Foaming_97 (April 18, 2005)

WHOOOOOOOOOOOA that was fun
I loved it
Blew me off my feeet when i first heard it
Great cd.

insipidaspersions (March 1, 2005)

I would call this album amazing. It's probably in my top 3. I am listening to it now actually. Track 4. As for classifications, I am definitely good at it either but to me it doesn't really matter as long as it sounds good. except then i make myself sound like an idiot sometimes when i try to describe a bands sound. o well. hoorah for poison the well. oh yeah and the art is amazing too. it does kind of make me want sunflower seeds.

Anonymous (October 30, 2004)

poster below me:

You clearly have no idea what the fuck your talking about.

Anonymous (July 14, 2004)

it´s fucking neometal.
i hear no difference between ptw and linkin park.
ptw does not play screamo.
ptw does not play hardcore.
ptw plays neometal.

Anonymous (May 16, 2004)

why is there no mention their other album...distance makes the heart grow fonder? ptw really has 4 albums but any article i have read states they have only 3...you come b/f you, tear from the red, opposite of december?? i don't get it...distance f*&$ing rocks! just saw ptw at a small skate park in buffalo..it was killer! cheap ptw swag and a tight preformance. ptw sounds just as good live as recorded. i wished it never ended!! love you derek ;) (yes..i am a girl)
p.s. if you can find them, grab a copy of their dvd's...tear from the road is soooo good (the other one is good too)!!

Anonymous (May 15, 2004)

very different to older ptw stuff, but i think that taking out the double kick riffs has improved this band immensely. theyve now taken on a more hardcore style of drumming (hope conspiracy style).

the lyrics are a bit depressing and crap though.

"Its not screamo or grindcore or metalcore or emo or hardcore. If anything its Piratecore cause Pirates of the Carribian rocked" - best comment ever

Anonymous (May 3, 2004)

Labels are for soupcans.

drummadict (April 20, 2004)

dude, this is their worst cd, if you want poison the well, buy tears of the red, or opposite of december, then you can hear them the way they should be remembered

Anonymous (March 29, 2004)

this cd is fucking amazing..

Anonymous (January 15, 2004)

this kind of music is so shitty, why do you hype these lame metalheads

mikeinflames (November 25, 2003)

Captin Overrated is calling ... he say's go out and buy this album
PTW = overrated ... plain and simple

Oh boo hoo look at me I'm crying stars becasue PTW suck ass!

Anonymous (August 5, 2003)

as always, posion the well lead the way, setting an example all like minded bands should want to follow. progression in hardcore isnt easy, but ptw fucking rule and have have pulled it off easy. again. go buy it if u havnt.

Anonymous (July 27, 2003)

vendetta red is the best screamo band ever

Anonymous (July 20, 2003)

the soundtrack to pirates of the carribean rocked. straight outta clear channel.

Anonymous (July 17, 2003)

Kyle Tweedy from Austin TX gives good head.

Anonymous (July 17, 2003)

This new "metal" album is great,
maybe their best one yet. I hope it's ok
to call these guys metal.

Anonymous (July 17, 2003)

Grrrrrrrraaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggg(gasp(aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamylifesuuuuuuuuaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaacks

thefirstfive (July 17, 2003)

I dont know why but the singing parts remind me of Failure.

Anonymous (July 17, 2003)

Its not screamo or grindcore or metalcore or emo or hardcore. If anything its Piratecore cause Pirates of the Carribian rocked.

Anonymous (July 17, 2003)

why is it everytime i hear ptw's albums for the first time i get major deja vu

FortyMinutesWest (July 17, 2003)

If typing makes you become out of breath you should probably cut back on the cake.

flocktothebeat (July 16, 2003)

Can all the stupid bickering people on this site just die? I swear that its a miracle you people haven't killed yourselves after realizing how WORTHLESS YOUR ARGUING IS. That is all.

isnt it kind of worthless to argue that other people are worthless? Whats ironic is that it is worthless for me to argue that you are worthless. im out of breath

Yellowtrash (July 15, 2003)

Yeah..I guess you're right on arguing around some really bad album.

Anonymous (July 15, 2003)

What! PTW isn't grindcore!! Grindcore is (Insert band here)!!!

Anonymous (July 14, 2003)

Can all the stupid bickering people on this site just die? I swear that its a miracle you people haven't killed yourselves after realizing how WORTHLESS YOUR ARGUING IS. That is all.

Anonymous (July 14, 2003)

if making fun of music means your dad touched you i think all of our dads probably fisted our assholes.

Anonymous (July 14, 2003)

Ok, I think we've established that PTW isn't grindcore or screamo. No need for any other posts like "What! PTW isn't grindcore!! Grindcore is (Insert band here)!!!"

Fagcore Huh? Kinda makes you wonder what skeletons are in that little fucker's closet.
(it's ok buddy, daddy can't hurt you anymore)

Anonymous (July 14, 2003)

poison the well isnt grindcore. crap review

FortyMinutesWest (July 13, 2003)

It's no masterpiece, but it's still pretty good. And once again, genres do matter.

Anonymous (July 13, 2003)

Who cares what stupid category you folks want to place them in? This is the best release of this year so far. This one will go down as a masterpiece. At first I didn't think much of it and then after a few spins, I'd catch myself singing songs in my head and realize it was Poison the Well. Great stuff. Listen with an open mind and try not to decide if you're too cool to listen to it.

funkisdead (July 13, 2003)

forty's link was pretty fuckin cool.
i wish there was a powerviolencenews.org website. would people would be cooler there? some one should start it and we'll see.

Anonymous (July 12, 2003)

what are you kids talking about? this album is nothing but watered down mosh crap. its nearing nu-metal.

grindcore? YEAH FUCKING RIGHT.

Anonymous (July 11, 2003)

Fagcore.

androbmeda (July 11, 2003)

the new album kicks ass. lots of cool riffs, some sweet breakdowns, lots of emotion. wayyyy beyond tear from the red.

Anonymous (July 11, 2003)

grindcore is the mix of hardcore and grind, poison the well doesnt have any elements of grind at all.
screamo is emo played a little more aggressive usually with high pitched crazed screaming poison the well doesnt do that either
i would call them melodic hardcore or melodic metalcore
and classifying music is important for people that havent heard a band that they are reading a for. its not a big crime against society but its just not good to get wrong in a review. if a guy was a big grind fan and read that review and expected to hear alittle grind on the albumn would be pissed he wasted his money, likewise with screamo fans, go to no idea's website and learn about screamo bands.

Anonymous (July 11, 2003)

I've never been a huge PTW fan but this cd is pretty fucking good in my opinion. the only thing that is missing is the killer double bass a la "opposite of december." Kinda a big reason TFTR was such a disappointment to me. Still a damn fine album here though, quite possibly their best songs written so far.

Yellowtrash (July 11, 2003)

"Classifying is for suckers. Who fucking cares."
That's why we call this Punknews.org? What the hell are you doing on this site?

Anonymous (July 11, 2003)

i didn't like the new cd here... they sped everything up... made it more hardcore... reminds me of a more in depth version of rememberingnever or skycamefalling, their old shit was metal mixed in with the elements of what peeps call emo, and thats what was all groundbreaking about them wasn't it, they were the first to do such a thing...
in anycase... cd too fast... i like poison the well that's slow and intense... however when they played some new shit live it was pretty intense too... meh, i'lls tick to the older shit

FortyMinutesWest (July 10, 2003)

It's not a waste of time, especially not in a review.

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

Why are you wasting your time trying to classify this album as a certain genre? Who gives a shit? You're not going to get "scene points" for supposedly knowing what certain albums should be classified as.

Classifying is for suckers. Who fucking cares.

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

oh yeah, ptw is defiently not screamo, whoever is calling it screamo needs to get smacked. and i think blood brothers is called like "no noise" band or like "noise-core" or that might be melt banana... i'm confused, BUT ptw is not screamo.

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

anal cunt is powerviolence

ptw is metalcore

discoreance axis is grindcore

...i laughed when AC broke up.

oh and this cd takes a few listens to get into it, but when that happens it's brilliant.

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

undifferentiated growling for a long time.

thats about it.

wyzo

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

that's exactly why i said it's a 9-worthy album, unlike this one! yo ho... look for a review of it sometime in the future (or possibly the past) cause there's nothing this site needs more than a little irish soul

-el vaquero

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

Also, Long Dim Road by the Tossers is an damn good cd also. Near perfect if you ask me.

Hate, Jesus

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

Let it be known: transitor transistor fuck rocks! The End.

Hate, Jesus

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

"screamo - imagine emo except harder louder, screamier."

that is so fuckin funny. believe that!

Ramo

Anonymous (July 10, 2003)

This well the poisoned, was it their collective talent?

FortyMinutesWest (July 9, 2003)

Wanna know what screamo is? These kids know:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=screamo

Hilarity.

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

david cross is fucking funny

FortyMinutesWest (July 9, 2003)

Anal Cunt's cover of "Unbelievable" is fucking brilliant.

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

alright kiddies, for some real grindcore learnin' go listen to some anal cunt, that'll learn ya! also, does anyone know if there's a difference between grindcore and noisecore? secondly, does anyone care?

-el vaquero
sasscore 4 life!!!

bluetunehead (July 9, 2003)

the best classification ive ever read was calling the blood brothers sass-core.

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

i refuse to read any further than where poison the well are referred to "grindcore" and "screamo". it's a sad day in music, when anyone, no matter how unimportant, thinks poison the well might be grindcore or screamo.

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

The best thing this band ever did was the cover of Black Flag's "I've Heard It Before".....and that wasn't even this band!!! It was just their singer. But, anyway, this isn't bad.....just kind of silly, it tries too hard to be serious with goofy subject matter.

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

i'll be sure to do that. but first, i have to go to the store, i'm out of "bleech"

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

whoever made the bad album bad band comment you should go kill yourself and make it painful you know...like slit your throat and then take a rag soaked in bleech and use it as a bandage you little cock...Poison the Well is GO-D

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

is it just me or does the cover art make you want to pick up some David sunflower seeds?

Ramo

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

bad band. bad album title. bad cover art.

Yellowtrash (July 9, 2003)

Alright dudes, it's time for you to bust out your board game called Life and modify it to Screamo Life. Here are the modifications. http://www.cmhwak.net/8/9screamolife.html

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

The idiot that said screamo doesnt exist is a moron..cause if thats true then punk doesnt exist...neither does emo or ska...so dont ever say nothing exists...and screameo is "tear from the red" thats screameo.

Anonymous (July 9, 2003)

They have a song on this album called "crystal lake"......please tell me this is a joke. How cheesy.

FortyMinutesWest (July 9, 2003)

The mp3 I linked is Discordance Axis.

GreenVandal (July 9, 2003)

Grind and scremo are NOTHING alike. This band is Metalcore. And Scremo doesnt exist as everyone has a different definition for it.

Yellowtrash (July 9, 2003)

If you really want to see grindcore in action, I think everyone should buy the Pikadourei DVD by Discordance Axis. It'll give you a fucking migraine

FortyMinutesWest (July 9, 2003)

grind:

http://studio-grey.com/da/mp3/endofrebirth.mp3

pwfanatic (July 8, 2003)

ok, just a few things, first off, i gave it a nine, cause i would say it is close to near perfect.

aubin - i am crazy.

also, as far as genre naming goes, i have never known what to place them in, but i have heard them refered to both grindcore and screamo and metalcore and hardcore and metal and etc etc. i am not really too knowledgeable on what makes a screamo band different from grindcore and what not.

aubin (July 8, 2003)

The overall positive reaction to this mystifying to me because I wussed out of writing a review of this because of the resounding disappointment of my first listen.

But I'll trust that not all of you are crazy, and I just might have been missing something so I will give it a second chance.

The new Beloved is pretty rad though.

Someone review that.

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

so you say there's filler and some songs can't keep your attention. fair enough. yet, a 9? a 9 to me is something that is almost perfect, not a really good album, like Long Dim Road or The Theory Of Harmonial Value, those are 9's, this is not from your review.

-el vaquero
oh, i hate this band, by the way

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

umm grindcore?? i don't think so....

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

i haven't heard this yet, but i'm going to check it out as i like their other stuff. but calling it grindcore and screamo? uhhhhhh, sure....

slippy (July 8, 2003)

this is already my favorite poison the well release, its quite good, and will most certainly make my top 10 this year. woooooooooooooo

mcpike (July 8, 2003)

the opposite of december will always be the favorite, but this is a really good album. and such nice guys.

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

this album is so fucking amazing. way better then anything else done by todays "core" bands. unlike everyone else ptw is actually trying to do something new with their music. how many fucking bands have made opposite of december?

on an other note ptw isnt screamo either. some screamo bands are: pg.99, satia, orchid, transitor transistor, city of caterpilar. ptw doesnt sound anything like them.

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

I HATED PTW's older cd's and so when I put on their new MAJOR LABEL release I was prepared to laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh... And guess what? I did laugh... at my own stupidity. This cd is by far the best thing PTW has put out. Some songs are just beautifully constructed songs while others (like zombies are good for your health) just fucking slam. This band finally solved a lot of the problems that plagued their first 2 releases (like badly recorded vocals and shaky song structures) and on their major release at that. I have a huge new-found respect for this band and I anticipate seeing them play these new tunes live.

Yellowtrash (July 8, 2003)

Exactly FortyMinutesWest! I'm going to write a review of Opposite Of December before anyone else does now. HAHAHA

FortyMinutesWest (July 8, 2003)

Poison the Well is a metalcore band, it's that simple.

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

grindcore? bwaahahahaha!

Yellowtrash (July 8, 2003)

Stop reading your stupid Alternative Press and Guitar Worlds. This is more metal/hardcore than screamo.

501 (July 8, 2003)

'' Stop calling this Screamo and Grindcore. ''

Shhhut up. It is screamo...

I love this ablum and I also thought it was gunna suck. This cd is brilliant. Poison the Well fucking rocks.

GreenVandal (July 8, 2003)

I havent heard thi yet. but i was just listening to the "Plea for peace" comp and realized I like there song "Botchla". I think ill give this a chance.

FortyMinutesWest (July 8, 2003)

This album is miles ahead of Tear From The Red, but nowhere near as good as Opposite of December. Oh, and PTW is not grindcore..

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

ahahahahahaah!...this band is horrid

Yellowtrash (July 8, 2003)

Stop calling this Screamo and Grindcore.

Anonymous (July 8, 2003)

I really like this album.....I have always been on the fence with this band, but I really like this. Good stuff, reminds me of old Deftones.

-sickboi