Punknews.org

|
Sign In | create an account

Poison the Well

Tear From the Red (2002)
Trustkill Records

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

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

Published on April 10th 2002

Florida's Poison the Well has a new record. Well, it's not that new, it's been out for awhile, but for the purposes of this review, let's call it a new record.

Anyhow, if you've been following the promotion of the aforementioned record a lot, you've probably heard a lot of noise about it's genre bending, and it's appeal to both the scary hardcore kids and the skinny cardigan-clad emo kids. I have to be honest that I don't agree with that assessment. Don't get me wrong, this is a good record. The metal bits are intense, and the melodic interludes are both spooky and catchy.

In a lot of ways, the dynamic of the album - which has been done frequently before, by bands like Planes Mistaken for Stars and Grade - is the real hook of the record. The biggest catch with doing the scream/sing blend is that typically, both parts suffer - the metal-tinged scream parts are too weak, and the melodic lines aren't really all that soothing. Thankfully, Poison the Well has really put together a perfect marraige of the two styles of music, as neither the heavy, nor the soft lack intensity.

But if anything, the biggest flaw in the album is the overall consistency of the song structure. With only one exception, the songs start softly, explode into a down-tuned frenzy, and bridge into a softer melodic line sung almost acapella style over a rhythmic guitar line. It's a good structure a couple of times, but it's more interesting when it's mixed up. It some ways, it reminded me of Thrice's Identity Crisis - another great record, somewhat flawed by repetitive song structures.

I don't agree that this will have the universal appeal some people in the Real Press(tm) seem to think, but if you're a fan of both spectrums of emotional hardcore you won't be disappointed.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.

What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Satelliteyrs (December 28, 2006)

crazy

Anonymous (June 17, 2006)

Oh, my world. It is ok

Anonymous (March 6, 2006)

Poison the well is god!!!! y prefer the oppositte or you come before you but this is a great album
fuck ass i lyings and avenged sevensuxxs

poison the well
you like it or you´r fag

Foaming_97 (March 5, 2005)

I havent heard all the songs on thius album but from what I've downloaded it rocks. BOTCHLA kicks ass!

drummadict (April 20, 2004)

this is the fuckin best cd they have other than opposite of december, so fuck you dude, they're fuckin awesome, i'd like to see you fuckin come out with an album on trustkill records, or any record label because you couldn't

Anonymous (January 15, 2004)

Fuck you poison the well
fuck you heavy metal
fuck you emo
fuck you overrated lame shit

Anonymous (October 29, 2003)

If you are a true Poison the Well fan you'll think anything that they come up with is freaking awesome. Each cd that they come up with they keep becoming better and better. I can't wait to hear the next one... Rock on Posion the Well!!! and anyone that disagrees with this cd, go back to listening to the backstreet boys with your mom!

Anonymous (October 8, 2003)

Jeff was the singer on OOD.

Anonymous (May 28, 2003)

This record is a piece of shit.

Anonymous (May 25, 2003)

Amazing cd... Opposite of December was better though.

Anonymous (March 30, 2003)

i like em, real good record

Anonymous (August 15, 2002)

opp of dec rocked hard cause they had a diff singer. tear from the red is still a good album, it's lacking tho...
and that song is parks and what u meant to me i believe

inge

will someone please do a hopesfall & harvest & skycamefalling review b4 i do and fuck it up?

ludacris (April 16, 2002)

the booklet that comes with cd is pretty cool, it's on some nice paper and is 24 pages! thats what im talkng about!

Anonymous (April 15, 2002)

I like Thrice's "The Illusion of Safety" much better. It has more variance and thought put into it.

Thats what I think anyway.

Anonymous (April 15, 2002)

this isn't very good at all, i didn't mind "opposite of december" but this is so bland. this doesn't get me revved up like a good heavy record should.

Anonymous (April 12, 2002)

i can't get over how horrible this band is.

Anonymous (April 12, 2002)

The best hardcore band? Hardly, actually not even close. Ever hear of real hardcore bands like the Nerve Agents(RIP), Strife, Propagandhi, Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo, and the Dillinger Escape Plan? And, we cannot forget the bands that created this genre- Black Flag and Minor Threat, they blow away almost anything released today.

Soven (April 11, 2002)

Debating what genre of music PTW falls into is about as productive as telling them to "get out of hardcore". I've always liked this band despite the positive hype and negativity surrounding them, but found "Tear From The Red" to be greatly lacking. Part of what made their last album so good was the fact that they were all over the map - breakdowns, double-bass, pauses, metal, mosh, singing, screaming... this latest release is so uninspired and boring. Great band and very talented, but I don't think they deliver.

Anonymous (April 11, 2002)

I think there`s a stupid virus around here. First their is a lot of double pedal action on this cd. Of course not as much as Opposite... but when it`s overused it loses it`s power anyway. This album is excellent, but you have to listen to it a couple of times to really love it. And they are a hardcore band, the fact that they sing and add melody doesnt make them emo, it just means that they have a singer that can actually sing, no like most hardcore band. I love all hardcore and metalcore but this is by far the best hardcore band. But it`s not metalcore. And i just saw Poison the well with FATA and American Nightmare! that show kicked ass...

-ejaculine

Anonymous (April 11, 2002)

"For fans of Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, and the Deftones"???

Talk about shooting high. Sounds like a Drive Thru Records sticker to me.

YUCK.

GAYDAR (April 11, 2002)

this isnt emocore or hardcore. so stop calling it that.

Anonymous (April 11, 2002)

being form the camp of, "i like punk, emo, indie, or metal, as long as its catchy, so most hardcore irritates me, i will have to say that when i had read reviews of this calling it emo-core, and then heard it, i thought they were nuts. this is hard core.

Anonymous (April 11, 2002)

Here come the nu-metal kids.