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Only a fraction of metalcore (or, at this point, former-metalcore) bands have as storied a history as Poison the Well. After releasing their debut EP, Distance Only Makes the Heart Grow Fonder in 1998, the band recruited their current singer, Jeffrey Moreira, and bolted to the forefront of the metalcore realm with The Opposite of December as their fuel. The clone-inspiring, distinctly melodic album not only shaped metalcore in the early 2000s, but preceded Tear from the Red, which sealed the band a major label deal.
That major label deal resulted in 2003's You Come Before You, which marked another healthy progression in Poison the Well's sound: more melody, more complex instrumentation and less metal. But after several tours in support of the album, Poison the Well went quiet, as did their fans. Needless to say, skepticism abounded when the band, with three of their five core members, announced last year that they'd split from Atlantic Records and planned to write a new album. Demos eventually leaked. People liked them; people hated them. But it's finally safe to say the band pulled off a return, and their Ferret Music debut, Versions, is likely more than most fans expected.
Sounding absolutely nothing like their first two full lengths, Versions is a sign of years passing, new musicians with markedly different tastes, and refreshed ambition. While the driving and searing energy of You Come Before You takes center stage in the more urgent, scream-y songs -- "Letter Thing," "The Notches That Create Your Headboard," and "Naive Monarch" -- it's the abrasive, noisy guitars, Western tones, and tinges of keyboards, mandolins, banjos and horns that make Versions incomparable. Hell, some of the guitar parts, strings and keys make me swear I'm leaning on rickety fence and chewing the end of a long blade of grass, all the while watching tumbleweeds roll in a dry wind. When it's not wrapped up in thick, melodic choruses, "Slow Good Morning"'s subtle keyboard textures, soft crooning and guitar picking pit me in the middle of this stark, dry atmosphere. "Nagaina" is darker and creepier, and "Riverside" tamer, but both thrive off a similar personality.
Breakdowns, chugging guitars and mind-boggling riffs are nowhere to be found, but that's not to say Versions isn't a satisfying, intense record. Jeffrey Moreira, once again, nearly screams his lungs to the floor, the drumming ranges from fast and frenzied to slow and crashing, and the guitars rarely shed their harsh, textured exterior. Even the more restrained parts are catchy and memorable, usually pulling me back for repeated listens better than anything else.
Poison the Well took a relatively uncharted path on Versions, dodging comparisons to anyone but themselves -- and even that's a stretch. One has to appreciate the band's outpouring of character and willingness to try new things, as well as their mind to keep their ambition in check. Heavy but not "metal," melodic but not "poppy," Versions is a mysterious and harsh record that should excite those listeners who first heard the band in '99 and inspire an entirely new horde of ears.
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